Dry ice pellet surface removal apparatus and method
US6174225A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Nov 13, 1997 |
| Grant date | Jan 16, 2001 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Nov 13, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH05K3/26
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An apparatus for removing surface coverings comprises a feeder device capable of providing a supply of dry ice pieces, a pellet-size reducer operatively associated with the feeder device to receive dry ice pieces from said feeder device and reduce the size of the dry ice pieces to nominal diameters less than 1 mm, and a blast gun connected to the pellet-size reducer and adapted for operative communication with an associated supply of flowing gas. The blast gun incorporates a venturi to entrain the reduced-sized dry ice pieces into the flowing gas and directs the flowing gas and dry ice pieces to an associated surface covering to be removed. Preferably, the pellet-size reducer is a knife- or disc-type grinding mill. In one embodiment, the grinding mill is adjustable for controlling the size of the dry ice particles supplied to the blast gun. The apparatus preferably includes a humidity controller to suppress static charges caused by the interaction of the dry ice particles with the surface being blasted.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.