Mechanism and method for recovering material from the surface of a liquid body
First Claim
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1. Mechanism for removing material from a liquid surface comprising:
- a cylindrical rotatable tubular element having a substantially upright axis of rotation and an axial dimension of length, and including flow passage means permitting flow of liquid into and out of the cylindrical rotatable tubular element entering and departing the cylindrical rotatable tubular element from axially spaced-apart locations;
a liquid flow duct having an open entrance end and an open exit end, and having an axis of flow;
means in said liquid flow duct between its entrance end and its exit and for causing liquid to flow through said flow duct from said entrance end to said exit end;
means for rotating the cylindrical rotatable tubular element;
means supporting the cylindrical rotatable tubular element and the flow duct relative to the surface of a body of liquid and to each other so that the cylindrical rotatable tubular element is positioned beneath the liquid surface and rotates around said axis, andat least a major portion of the flow duct is positioned beneath the elevation of the bottom of the cylindrical rotatable tubular element with the axis of flow at said entrance end coaxial with the axis of rotation of the cylindrical rotatable tubular element, andthe means for causing liquid to flow through the flow duct constructed and arranged to move water downwardly into the entrance end, through the flow duct, and out the exit end, and the cylindrical rotatable tubular element constructed and arranged to rotate water around its said axis,whereby there is formed in the liquid above the cylindrical rotatable tubular element, a free vortex into which material on the liquid collects in a pocket; and
means for extracting material from said pocket.
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Abstract
Material such as an oil slick floating on a body of liquid, ordinarily water, is collected by a mechanism comprising an impeller beneath the liquid surface and a rotatable tubular element which together form a free vortex as the surface of the body of liquid that draws the material into a vortex pocket from which it can be pumped.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. Mechanism for removing material from a liquid surface comprising:
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a cylindrical rotatable tubular element having a substantially upright axis of rotation and an axial dimension of length, and including flow passage means permitting flow of liquid into and out of the cylindrical rotatable tubular element entering and departing the cylindrical rotatable tubular element from axially spaced-apart locations; a liquid flow duct having an open entrance end and an open exit end, and having an axis of flow; means in said liquid flow duct between its entrance end and its exit and for causing liquid to flow through said flow duct from said entrance end to said exit end; means for rotating the cylindrical rotatable tubular element; means supporting the cylindrical rotatable tubular element and the flow duct relative to the surface of a body of liquid and to each other so that the cylindrical rotatable tubular element is positioned beneath the liquid surface and rotates around said axis, and at least a major portion of the flow duct is positioned beneath the elevation of the bottom of the cylindrical rotatable tubular element with the axis of flow at said entrance end coaxial with the axis of rotation of the cylindrical rotatable tubular element, and the means for causing liquid to flow through the flow duct constructed and arranged to move water downwardly into the entrance end, through the flow duct, and out the exit end, and the cylindrical rotatable tubular element constructed and arranged to rotate water around its said axis, whereby there is formed in the liquid above the cylindrical rotatable tubular element, a free vortex into which material on the liquid collects in a pocket; and means for extracting material from said pocket. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. The method of recovering material from a liquid surface which comprises:
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rotating on a vertical axis a cylindrical tubular element placed beneath the surface of the liquid so that liquid above the element and surrounding the vertical axis is formed as a ring-shaped region which rotates bodily around said axis and is formed of eddy currents which flow in a generally curvilinear path radially outward from said axis, then axially upward, radially inward and axially downward; drawing a downward axial flow of water through a duct having an upright axis substantially co-linear with the axis of said rotating element so that some of the axial flow of water envelops said rotational field, whereby a free vortex is formed in the liquid between the surface and the element, said vortex containing a pocket of said material drawn from the surface of the liquid; and extracting the material from said pocket. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19)
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Specification