Method and system for controlling a drying process

Abstract

A dry cleaning device includes a cleaning enclosure suitable for receiving clothing articles and a cleaning fluid, typically a solvent based cleaning fluid, and circuitry coupled to the dry cleaning device for sensing at least one operational parameter of the dry cleaning device and for calculating a retained cleaning fluid content in the articles disposed within the cleaning enclosure based on the at least one operational parameter. Alternatively, the circuitry may calculate the amount of cleaning fluid returned to the system during the cleaning process.

1 . A dry cleaning device, comprising: 
 a cleaning enclosure configured to receive articles and a cleaning fluid; and    circuitry coupled to said dry cleaning device for sensing at least one operational parameter of said dry cleaning device and calculating a retained cleaning fluid content in said articles based on said at least one operational parameter.    
   
   
       2 . A dry cleaning device according to  claim 1 , wherein said circuitry controls a drying process for said dry cleaning device based on the calculated retained cleaning fluid content.  
   
   
       3 . A dry cleaning device according to  claim 1 , wherein said circuitry includes at least one sensing device.  
   
   
       4 . A dry cleaning device according to  claim 3 , wherein said at least one sensing device is a temperature sensor.  
   
   
       5 . A dry cleaning device according to  claim 4 , further comprising an air management system for circulating an airflow through said cleaning enclosure and wherein said temperature sensor senses a temperature of said airflow and said circuitry calculates the retained cleaning fluid content based on said sensed temperature.  
   
   
       6 . A dry cleaning device according to  claim 3 , wherein said at least one sensing device is a vapor pressure sensor to sense a vapor pressure of the cleaning fluid in the cleaning enclosure and said circuitry calculates the retained cleaning fluid content based on said sensed vapor pressure.  
   
   
       7 . A dry cleaning device according to  claim 3 , wherein said cleaning enclosure includes a rotatable basket and said at least one sensing device is a torque load sensor to sense a torque load measurement while said basket rotates with said articles at a known speed and said circuitry calculates the retained cleaning fluid content based on said sensed torque load measurement.  
   
   
       8 . A dry cleaning device according to  claim 3 , further comprising a fluid processing system configured to receive the cleaning fluid after usage within the cleaning enclosure, wherein said at least one sensing device is a weight sensor adapted to sense the weight of said cleaning fluid within said fluid processing system and said circuitry calculates the retained cleaning fluid content based on said sensed weight measurement.  
   
   
       9 . A dry cleaning device according to  claim 3 , further comprising a fluid processing system configured to receive the cleaning fluid after usage within the cleaning enclosure, wherein said at least one sensing device is a volume sensor adapted to sense the volume of said cleaning fluid within said fluid processing system and said circuitry calculates the retained cleaning fluid content based on said volume measurement.  
   
   
       10 . A dry cleaning device according to  claim 1 , wherein said circuitry is configured to provide a calibrated model that is representative of a drying process and said circuitry calculates the retained cleaning fluid content based on said model in conjuction with said sensed operational parameters.  
   
   
       11 . A method for controlling a drying process in a dry cleaning device that uses a cleaning fluid to clean articles, the method comprising: 
 sensing at least one operational parameter of the dry cleaning device;    calculating a retained cleaning fluid content in the articles based on the sensed operational parameter; and    controlling the drying process based on the calculated retained cleaning fluid content.    
   
   
       12 . A dry cleaning device for cleaning articles with a solvent based cleaning fluid, comprising: 
 a cleaning enclosure configured to receive the articles;    a fluid processing system that supplies a solvent based cleaning fluid to the cleaning enclosure;    an air management system that supplies an airflow to the cleaning enclosure;    at least one sensing device configured to sense an operational parameter of the dry cleaning device; and    a controller responsive to the at least one sensing device, wherein the controller is configured to calculate the retained solvent based cleaning fluid content in the articles based on the sensed operational parameter and control the drying process based on the calculated retained cleaning fluid.    
   
   
       13 . A dry cleaning device for cleaning articles with a solvent based cleaning fluid, comprising: 
 a means for receiving articles;    a means for introducing said solvent based cleaning fluid into said means for receiving articles upon introduction of said articles;    a means for determining at least one operational parameter of said dry cleaning device; and    and a means for calculating a retained solvent based cleaning fluid content in said articles based on said at least one operational parameter.    
   
   
       14 . A dry cleaning device for cleaning articles with a solvent based cleaning fluid in accordance with  claim 13 , further comprising means for controlling a drying process for said dry cleaning device based on the calculated retained solvent based cleaning fluid content.  
   
   
       15 . A dry cleaning device for cleaning articles with a solvent based cleaning fluid, comprising: 
 a cleaning enclosure configured to receive the articles;    a fluid processing system that supplies a solvent based cleaning fluid to the cleaning enclosure;    an air management system that supplies an airflow to the cleaning enclosure;    at least one sensing device configured to sense an operational parameter of the dry cleaning device; and    a controller responsive to the at least one sensing device, wherein the controller is configured to calculate the amount of returned solvent based cleaning solution based on the sensed operational parameter and control the drying process based on the calculated returned cleaning fluid.    
   
   
       16 . A dry cleaning device in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein said circuitry locks the cleaning enclosure until the calculated retained fluid content is less than a predetermined value.