Patent ID: 6287460
Filing Date: 2001-09-11
Classification: B01D,E03F

Abstract:
An improved apparatus for continually skimming off a top layer of a body of liquid, in which the apparatus has a self-adjusting movable collecting container with two opposite sidewalls, a rear wall, and a bottom surface, including a discharge means, wherein the collecting container has an edge over which the top layer flows into the collecting container, which top layer is removable through said discharge means and wherein a combined weight of the top layer skimmed into the collecting container and a weight of the movable collecting container itself interacting with a force caused by a buoyancy of the collecting container, the buoyancy being a direct result of a liquid level differential causing flow from the body of liquid into the collecting container, said differential being maintained by a continuous or intermittent removal of the top layer from the collecting container by the discharge means, thereby causing the collecting container to seek an effective balanced position for collecting the top layer, the improvement comprising:a pipe about which the collecting container is mounted tiltably, said pipe aligning with and coinciding with an axis of rotation of the collecting container, the pipe further being connected to the discharge means inside the collecting container,wherein the pipe and the collecting container are capable of independent movement, andwherein manual or powered adjustments of the collecting container's attitude upon changes in one of a surface level of the body of liquid outside the collecting container, a weight of the top layer inside the collecting container, a change in flow rate of collected top layer being discharged, and any combination of said surface level, weight of top layer inside the collecting container and discharge flow rate change are not required in order to maintain the effective balanced position for collecting the top layer.