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A method and an apparatus, the apparatus including appropriate valves and conduits, for increasing throughput in pressurized fluid processing including storing in a storage chamber of the apparatus a quantity of fluid at a pressure higher than a pressure at which an operation is to take place, while

A method and an apparatus, the apparatus including appropriate valves and conduits, for increasing throughput in pressurized fluid processing including storing in a storage chamber of the apparatus a quantity of fluid at a pressure higher than a pressure at which an operation is to take place, while a processing chamber is depressurized to allow reception of a new object; sealing the processing chamber; and allowing fluid stored in the storage chamber to pass to the processing chamber to re-pressurize the processing chamber before performing the operation. The fluid may be preheated in the storage chamber to further reduce processing times.

대표청구항 ▼

1. An apparatus for processing an object with a fluid at high pressure, the fluid being from a fluid source, the apparatus comprising: a storage vessel for storing a quantity of the fluid supplied from the fluid source; a pump for pumping the fluid from the fluid source to the storage vessel, sa

1. An apparatus for processing an object with a fluid at high pressure, the fluid being from a fluid source, the apparatus comprising: a storage vessel for storing a quantity of the fluid supplied from the fluid source; a pump for pumping the fluid from the fluid source to the storage vessel, said pump having an input connected to said fluid source and an output connected to said storage vessel; a processing chamber in which objects to be processed are placed for processing and from which the objects are removed after processing; a first valve between the pump and the storage vessel; a second valve between the storage vessel and the processing chamber; an exhaust valve associated with the processing chamber to permit the processing chamber to be vented; wherein said first valve is a two way valve having an input, a first output and a second output, said input being connected to the output of said pump, and a first output connected to said storage vessel; said second valve is a two way valve having an output, a first input and a second input, said first input being connected to the storage vessel, said output connected to said processing chamber; and further comprising a bypass connection between said second output of said first valve and said second input of said second valve. 2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a bypass for bypassing fluid from said output of said pump to said processing chamber. 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said storage vessel has a larger volume than said processing chamber. 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said storage vessel is pressurized to a higher pressure than said processing chamber. 5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said storage vessel and said processing chamber are relatively sized, and said processing chamber is pressurized, so that when said second valve is opened and pressure equilibrates between said storage vessel and said processing chamber, said processing chamber is at an operating pressure for performing operations on said objects. 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said fluid source is one of a pressured fluid cylinder and a fluid generator. 7. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a heater for heating fluid stored in said storage vessel. 8. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a heater for heating fluid in said processing chamber. 9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said pump is an air driven liquid pump.