Fabric revitalizing system

Abstract

A system for treating a fabric load comprises a chamber having an interior for holding a fabric load; a low absorbency textured surface disposed within the chamber; at least one opening into the chamber for enabling user access to the interior of the chamber; a fabric movement system for causing movement of the fabric load within the chamber; a fluid delivery system in fluid communication with the interior of the chamber; and a fluid removal system in fluid communication with the interior of the chamber.

1 . A system for treating a fabric load, the system comprising:
 a chamber having an interior for holding a fabric load;   a low absorbency textured surface disposed within the chamber;   at least one opening into the chamber for enabling user access to the interior of the chamber;   a fabric movement system for causing movement of the fabric load within the chamber;   a fluid delivery system in fluid communication with the interior of the chamber; and   a fluid removal system in fluid communication with the interior of the chamber.   
   
   
       2 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the fabric movement system comprises a motor in driving engagement with the chamber to selectively move the chamber. 
   
   
       3 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the low absorbency textured surface is substantially non-absorbent. 
   
   
       4 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the low absorbency surface is disposed on an inside surface of the chamber. 
   
   
       5 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a closure adapted to selectively close the opening into the chamber. 
   
   
       6 . The system of  claim 5  wherein the chamber comprises a generally cylindrical drum, and the fabric movement system comprises a motor in driving engagement with the drum to selectively rotate the drum. 
   
   
       7 . The system of  claim 6 , further comprising an enclosure, and the drum is rotatably mounted within the enclosure. 
   
   
       8 . The system of  claim 7  wherein the drum is perforated for draining of fluid from the fabric load. 
   
   
       9 . The system of  claim 6  wherein the motor is configured to selectively drive the drum in opposite directions. 
   
   
       10 . The system of  claim 5  further comprising a plurality of baffles disposed along an interior circumference of the chamber, wherein the textured surface comprises a textured substrate surface disposed on at least one of the plurality of baffles. 
   
   
       11 . The system of  claim 5  wherein the low absorbency textured surface comprises a textured surface on at least one inside surface of the chamber selected from a group consisting of: a front wall of the chamber, a back wall of the chamber, an interior circumference of the chamber, an interior surface of the closure, a baffle extending inwardly from an inside surface of the chamber, and a depression in an inside surface of the chamber. 
   
   
       12 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a particulate removal and collection system in communication with the interior of the chamber. 
   
   
       13 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the low absorbency textured surface comprises a textured substrate. 
   
   
       14 . The system of  claim 13  wherein the textured substrate comprises a powder coating. 
   
   
       15 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the textured surface comprises a structural attribute comprising at least one member selected from a group consisting of: a plurality of directional fibers, an open cell structure, a closed cell structure, a plurality of break-away particulate surface substructures, a plurality of microparticulate substructures, a textured substrate, and a coating. 
   
   
       16 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the textured surface is in the form of an insert mounted on an inside surface of the chamber. 
   
   
       17 . The system of  claim 16  wherein the insert is selected from a group consisting of: a removable pad, a permanently attached pad, a removable pad liner with a covering, and a permanently attached pad liner with a covering. 
   
   
       18 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the fluid delivery system comprises at least one member selected from a group consisting of: a sprayer, an injector, a nebulizer, a capillary channel, a vortex tube, a venturi, and a device with means for fluid displacement due to chemical reactions. 
   
   
       19 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the fluid delivery system comprises:
 a nebulizer assembly in fluid communication with the interior of the chamber so that the nebulizer assembly provides a mist to the fabric load during operation of the nebulizer assembly, and   a transitional assembly interposed between the nebulizer assembly and the interior of the chamber such that the nebulizer communicates with the interior of the chamber through the transitional assembly.   
   
   
       20 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the fluid delivery system comprises a nebulizer, a pump, and a sanitization system. 
   
   
       21 . The system of  claim 1  further comprising a means for controlling a moisture level in the fabric. 
   
   
       22 . The system of  claim 21  wherein the means for controlling the moisture level in the fabric comprises at least one of a refrigerant system and a vacuum system. 
   
   
       23 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising at least one of:
 a stain pretreatment station external to the chamber, and   a sanitization system.   
   
   
       24 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the fluid removal system comprises at least one of a heater, a fan, a variable speed fan, an air compressor, an air source, an air tank, an air pump, a condenser system, a desiccant system, a steam drying system, an electrostatic drying system, a microwave drying system, a conduction drying system, a convection drying system, and a radiation drying system. 
   
   
       25 . The system of  claim 1 , where in the fluid removal system comprises a heating system and an air flow system wherein the heating system has at least one heating element in fluid communication with the air flow system, and wherein the heating system and the air flow system are in fluid communication with the interior of the chamber. 
   
   
       26 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the fluid removal system comprises a heater control configured to limit a temperature of the fabric load to below about 140° F. 
   
   
       27 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the fluid removal system comprises a heater having at least two heating elements, at least one heating element configured to rapidly raise a temperature of the fabric load and at least one other heating element configured to provide continued heating of the fabric load after a predetermine temperature has been reached. 
   
   
       28 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the fluid removal system comprises a sensor detecting at least one of temperature, pressure, humidity, force, torque, inertia, mass, frequency, acceleration, vapor, moisture, oxygen, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, electrical conduction, enzyme, aqueous vapor, non-aqueous vapor, turbidity, optical spectrum, ultrasonic, shaped electronic field, float, laser deflection, chemical, petro-chemical, electric field imaging, capacitance, resistance, pH, non-dispersive infrared, acoustic wave, and oxidation reduction potential. 
   
   
       29 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a user interface to selectively control the operation of the fabric movement system, the fluid delivery system, and the fluid removal system. 
   
   
       30 . The system of  claim 29  wherein the user interface provides information related to at least one of status, safety, emergency, time remaining, cycle step, unbalanced load, blocked conduit, valve failure, clogged filter, breach of closed system, fluid leak, fluid level, pressure drops, temperature increase, and chemical leakage. 
   
   
       31 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising an air flow system having a fan motor and a blower fan, wherein the fan motor is in mechanical communication with the blower fan to drive the blower fan, and wherein the blower fan is in fluid communication with the interior of the chamber to generate an air flow through the interior of the chamber. 
   
   
       32 . The system of  claim 31  wherein the air flow comprises ionized air. 
   
   
       33 . The system of  claim 31  wherein the fabric movement system, the air flow system, and the fluid removal system can be operated as a conventional clothes dryer. 
   
   
       34 . The system of  claim 33  wherein the system can be used to at least one of: (a) dry a wet load of clothes and then revitalize the dried clothes and (b) revitalize an initially dry load of clothes. 
   
   
       35 . The system of  claim 31  wherein the air flow system further comprises a filter selected from:
 a locked down sealed edge filter;   a filter for at least one of a vapor, a fog, and a colloidal suspension;   an electrostatic filter;   a filter impregnated with a catalyst for producing at least one of a species and radical for cleaning;   a filter impregnated with a reactant to chemically treat a substance present in air;   a neutralizing filter to remove a previous treatment, and   an air permeable matrix having a plurality of pores with a greatest pore dimension in a range from about 0.10 micron to about 1500 microns.   
   
   
       36 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the fluid delivery system comprises at least one of:
 a multi-phase chemistry insertion system;   a combination of a steamer and a vapor insertion system;   a combination of a steamer and a fluid insertion system;   a combination of a vapor insertion system and a fluid insertion system;   a combination of a steamer and a multi-phase chemistry insertion system;   a combination of a vapor insertion system, a fluid insertion system, and a multi-phase chemistry insertion system;   a steamer; and   a vapor insertion system.   
   
   
       37 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the system components are disposed in a plurality of modules wherein at least one of the modules is a drying module and at least one other of the modules is selected from a group consisting of: a stain pretreatment module, a sanitizing module, and an alternative chemistry module. 
   
   
       38 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the low absorbency textured surface comprises a pad and fluid dispensing means to dispense fluid from the pad. 
   
   
       39 . The system of  claim 38  wherein the fluid dispensing means is configured to wick fluid through the pad. 
   
   
       40 . The system of  claim 39  wherein the fluid dispensing means further comprises an inner reservoir for storing the fluid that can be wicked through the pad. 
   
   
       41 . The system of  claim 38  wherein the fluid is impregnated on the pad. 
   
   
       42 . The system of the  claim 38  wherein the fluid is a perfume. 
   
   
       43 . The system of  claim 38  wherein the fluid is a multi-phase chemistry.