Disclosed are methods and apparatus for cleaning a substrate, such as a fabric material, involving the application of optical energy to the substrate, typically in the form of a beam of light, where the energy of the beam causes removal of the contaminant from substrate, such as from the fibers of a fabric material. The cleaning may occur via any mechanism, including one or more of, alone or in any combination, ablation, melting, heating or reaction with the substrate or contaminant or agent introduced to aid in the cleaning. The optical energy is typically applied to a selected area of the substrate (e.g., as a beam), and the substrate and beam or optical energy source moved relative to one another so as to clean a larger area of the substrate, either by moving the substrate or the beam, or both. Movement of the beam with respect to the substrate can be attained through a beam scanning mechanism or through movement of the optical source itself.

A method and apparatus for drying and pyrolyzing carbon-containing materials to produce valuable products including char, oil, gas and thermal energy. The present invention involves a method whereby carbon-containing material 1 is maintained in a heated region predominantly free of oxidizing gases to promote pyrolysis reactions, and the thermal energy required to drive the process is provided via the combustion of a proportion of the volatilized matter with an oxygen containing gas in the same chamber 3. The arrangement of the chamber 3 eliminates the need for any form of solid physical barrier between the concurrent pyrolysis and combustion reactions occurring in the process, and also avoids any requirement for external means of recirculating the gaseous volatilized matter. The present invention also relates to a method for improving the transfer of thermal energy from the combustion to pyrolysis zones via radiative and convective heat transfer mechanisms.

Disclosed is a dust collector using fan heat, comprising a bottom shell (10) and an upper cover (50), wherein a rear end (12) of the bottom shell (10) is provided with an air outlet (122) and a fan assembly (30), the upper cover (50) covers and is connected to the bottom shell (10), air flow from the fan assembly (30) is discharged via the air outlet (122), and the fan assembly (30) is provided with a fan (33) and a stator (331); and the rear end (12) is provided with a lower frame edge (121), the fan assembly (30) and the air outlet (122) are enclosed to form a closed air flow channel (35), and a heat collector (40) is provided on the stator (331) in the air flow channel (35), and can rapidly collect heat and warm the air flow to form hot air flow. Also disclosed is a dust collector having an ironing function, which uses hot air flow to heat an ironing board (60) and then performs ironing and sterilization, so that the dust collector also implements recycling of energy resources while achieving the dust collection effect so as to perform effective sterilization and ironing.

A steam generator includes an inlet configured to receive a liquid (such as water); a heating element for converting the liquid into a vapor (such as steam), the vapor bearing particles such as mineral deposits formed by the converting of the liquid; an outlet in fluid communication with the inlet, the outlet configured to discharge filtered vapor and having a size on the order of larger ones of the particles; and a filter structure adjacent to the outlet to filter the larger particles out of the vapor to produce the filtered vapor for discharge from the outlet. By action of the filter structure, larger particles are prevented from reaching the outlet, reducing clogging and extending the usable lifetime of a small appliance containing the steam generator. The filter structure may include spaced-apart members such as posts or pillars extending perpendicularly in a planar fluid flow passage.

The present application relates to a garment steaming device (1). The garment steaming device comprises a housing (2) with a steam channel (8) arranged in the housing (2) for the passage of steam and a cavity extending into the housing (2). The garment steaming device (1) further comprises a fragrance cartridge (10) that is removeably disposed in the cavity and a valve assembly (11) which is disposed between the cavity and the steam channel (8). The valve assembly (11) is adapted to prevent steam to from flowing between the steam channel (8) and the cavity when the fragrance cartridge (10) is not disposed in the cavity. The valve assembly and the fragrance cartridge are adapted to cooperate such as to allow steam to flow between the steam channel and the cavity when the fragrance cartridge is disposed in the cavity. This solution allows a user to safely remove the fragrance cartridge from the cavity even when there is steam in the steam channel.

The present invention relates to a High-heat-delivery device suitable for use in an hair straightener, a hair curling iron or an ironing apparatus and suitable for heat transfer to a substrate by direct contact with said substrate, comprising at least one element (A) having a heat transfer contact surface area, wherein the element (A) comprises a thermo-conductive thermoplastic polymer composition comprising: 30 to 89 wt % of a polyester with a Tm of at least 170 C. as measured according to ISO 11357-1/3 (2011) with a scan rate of 10 C./min; and 10 to 50 wt % of glass fibers; and 1 to 40 wt % of a thermo-conductive additive, wherein the weight percentages are based on the total weight of thermo-conductive thermoplastic polymer composition of element (A).

The present invention relates to a High-heat-delivery device suitable for use in an hair straightener, a hair curling iron or an ironing apparatus and suitable for heat transfer to a substrate by direct contact with said substrate, comprising at least one element (A) having a heat transfer contact surface area, wherein the element (A) comprises a thermo-conductive thermoplastic polymer composition comprising: 30 to 89 wt % of a polyester with a Tm of at least 170 C. as measured according to ISO 11357-1/3 (2011) with a scan rate of 10 C./min; and 10 to 50 wt % of glass fibers; and 1 to 40 wt % of a thermo-conductive additive, wherein the weight percentages are based on the total weight of thermo-conductive thermoplastic polymer composition of element (A).

The present disclosure relates to an apparatus for cleaning of fabric. Image capturing units in the apparatus captures images of the fabric. A control unit in the apparatus identifies region of stain in the fabric based on the images and activates an ejecting unit for cleaning the fabric. The ejecting unit applies a selected cleaning agent on the region of stain. A motorized wiper and a sucking mechanism are operated on the region of stain to remove stain from the fabric. In an embodiment, the apparatus may also be used for ironing the fabric. However, the fabric is ironed within an optimal temperature range suitable for the type of fabric being ironed, thereby preventing over-heating and/or burning of the fabric. Thus, the apparatus disclosed herein facilitates both cleaning and ironing of the fabric.

An electronic cigarette, comprising a casing and an electrode assembly disposed therein; the electrode assembly comprising an outer electrode (30) and an inner electrode (40), which are insulated from each other; outer electrode (30) being provided with a first through-hole (312); inner electrode (40) being provided with a second through-hole (412); first through-hole (312) and second through-hole (412) communicating to form the gas flow communication channel of the electronic cigarette. The electronic cigarette causes gas to flow directly from the first through-hole (312) to the second through-hole (412), thus shortening the flow path of the gas, making gas flow changes more smoothly, and reducing noise when smoking, improving user experience.

A laundry treating apparatus (100) is disclosed. The laundry treating apparatus (100) includes a cabinet (1) forming an external appearance of the laundry treating apparatus, a support part (2) configured to be withdrawable from the cabinet (1), the support part (2) providing a space to support laundry when the laundry is withdrawn from the cabinet (1), and a laundry treating unit (5) configured to be withdrawable from the cabinet (1), the laundry treating unit (5) supplying at least one of heat and moisture to the laundry supported by the support part (2).