Patent ID: 6443100
Filing Date: 2002-09-03
Classification: A01K,Y02A

Abstract:
A debris separating system for separating debris in a fish tank having a substantially circular cross section and wherein incoming water is pumped into the tank with momentum substantially tangent to the periphery of said tank to cause said water to flow with a circular motion from the top toward the bottom of said tank, said tank having a bottom, said debris separating system comprising a standpipe concentric with said tank and extending through said bottom of said tank to a position below a surface of water in said tank, said stand pipe having an expanding section defining an open upper end of said stand pipe spaced from said bottom of said tank a cover concentric with said open upper end and spaced above said open upper end closing said open upper end and defining at its outer periphery one side of an inlet passage into sad open upper end between said cover and said expanding section of said stand pipe, said inlet passage providing the inlet for fluid flow from said tank into said standpipe, a plurality of circumferentially spaced vanes arranged symmetrically around said inlet passage in spaced relation to said open end and to direct flow into said open end, said cover having a diameter greater than said open upper end to shelter said open upper end from debris that may fall from water above said open upper end and to disrupt a vortex formed in at the center of the tank by said incoming water.