AXIAL FLOW LIQUID AERATOR

• US 3,739,986 A
• Filed: 08/17/1971
• Issued: 06/19/1973
• Est. Priority Date: 08/17/1971
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Aqua-Aerobic Systems Incorporated (Metawater Company Limited)
• Original Assignee: Richard B. Ravitts
• Inventors: Ravitts, Richard B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Wood, Jr., M. Henson
• Assistant Examiner(s): Love, John J.
• Application Number:
  US05/172,517
• Time in Patent Office: 672 Days
• Field of Search: 239/219,220,221,182 259/108,111 417/61
• US Class Current: 239/221
• CPC Class Codes: B01F 23/23421 the stirrers rotating about a vertical axis
• CPC Class Codes: B01F 27/80 with stirrers rotating about a substantially vertical axis
• CPC Class Codes: B01F 33/503 Floating mixing devices
• CPC Class Codes: C02F 3/16 the aerator having a vertical axis
• CPC Class Codes: Y02W 10/10 Biological treatment of water, waste water, or sewage

Abstract

An axial flow liquid aerator includes a float with an upright tubular throat extending therethrough and includes a drum-type impeller telescoped into the throat. The impeller is rotatable with a power shaft driven by a plurality of motors supported on the float and equally spaced around the throat to balance the float against tipping as the impeller is rotated to pump a sleeve of water from a pond upwardly through the throat between the outer wall of the impeller and the throat wall to circulate and aerate the water in the pond. A speed reducer connected between the motors and the power shaft is operable to transfer rotational motion from each of the motors to rotate the shaft at a speed less than the rotational speed of the motor drive shafts. The speed reducer includes a small pulley mounted on each drive shaft, larger pulleys fixed to the power shaft and endless belts trained around the pulleys to transfer the rotational motion. The tension in the endless belts is maintained by a belt tensioner which is connected between the motors and which includes lever arms connected at one end to one side of each of the motors and springs connecting the ends of each arm together.

Claims

1. A liquid aerator having a vertically extending opening formed therethrough, an upright tubular throat telescoped into said opening and having a lower inlet end for immersion in the liquid, a power rotated shaft extending into said throat, and an impeller fixed to and rotatable with said shaft to pump liquid upwardly through said throat in response to the rotation of said shaft, the improvement in said aerator comprising, a pair of motors substantially equally spaced diametrically from one another around said shaft, pulleys and drive belts between said motors and said power rotated shaft, each of said motors mounted to pivot generally toward and away from said power rotated shaft about a vertical axis adjacent one side of each motor so as to adjust the tension in said drive belts, lever means for pivoting each motor about each said axis, and spring means connected to said lever means for biasing said motors agaiNst said drive belts in order to equalize and adjust the tension in the belts.

2. The aerator as defined in claim 1 wherein said spring means comprises coil springs, each of said spring means being connected to the inner end portion of one lever means and to the other lever means at a position intermediate the ends of said other lever means, said power rotated shaft being located between the two springs.

3. The aerator as defined in claim 1 further characterized by means for adjusting the tension of said spring means.

4. A liquid aerator comprising a float support having an upright tubular throat adapted for immersion in a body of liquid at its lower inlet end and defining an outlet at its upper end, a power rotated shaft extending into said throat, a central drum telescoped into said throat and fixed to and rotatable with said shaft, a plurality of angularly spaced blades extending outwardly of said drum within said throat and having tips spaced inwardly from the side of said throat to pump a sleeve of liquid upwardly through said throat between the drum and the side of the throat in response to rotation of said drum, a diffuser positioned above said float coaxially with said throat and shaped to deflect said upwardly pumped sleeve of liquid outwardly over the top of the float, said drum including a lower support disk connected to the bottom of the drum with a water-tight seal and an upper support disk connected to the top of said drum with a water-tight seal thereby sealing said drum to give additional buoyancy to the aerator.

5. The aerator as defined in claim 4 wherein said shaft extends into said drum through both said upper and lower disks and is connected to each disk.

6. The aerator as defined in claim 4 wherein said diffuser is connected to the top of said drum for bodily rotation therewith.

7. The aerator as defined in claim 4 further including a generally conical spinner connected to the lower end of said drum to streamline the upward flow of liquid as the latter is drawn into the the throat.

8. A liquid aerator having a vertically extending opening formed therethrough, an upright tubular throat telescoped into said opening and having a lower inlet end for immersion in the liquid, a power rotated shaft extending into said throat, and an impeller fixed to and rotatable with said shaft to pump liquid upwardly through said throat in response to the rotation of said shaft, the improvement in said aerator comprising, a plurality of motors substantially equally spaced from one another around said shaft, pulleys and drive belts between said motors and said power rotated shaft, each of said motors pivotally mounted for movements generally toward and away from said power rotated shaft about a vertical axis adjacent one side of each motor to adjust the tension in said drive belts, lever means connected to each motor for pivoting each motor about said axis, and spring means connected to said lever means for biasing said motors against said drive belts in order to equalize and adjust the tension in the belts.

9. The aerator as defined in claim 8 wherein each said spring means is connected to the lever means of the opposite motor.

10. The aerator as defined in claim 8 further characterized by means for adjusting the tension of said spring means.