Patent ID: 8701446

Claim:
An apparatus for separating fibers from a gas flow comprising: a fiberizer configured for forming downwardly moving veils of fibrous mineral material and gas flow; a gathering member adapted to receive the formed fibrous mineral material and the gas flow; a duct adapted to receive the formed fibrous material and the gas flow from the gathering member; a separator configured to receive the formed fibrous material and the gas flow from the duct and further configured to separate the formed fibrous material from the gas flow, the separator including: a rotatable drum positioned within the separator, the drum adapted to receive the formed fibrous mineral material on a perforated outer circumferential wall of the drum, with the outer circumferential wall being permeable to the gas flow; a wall inwardly spaced apart from the rotatable drum and defining an inner chamber, the wall comprising an upper portion and a lower portion, the upper portion being porous and the lower portion being impervious to air flow, and the inner chamber having a zone for reduced pressure; a lower chamber within the drum and having a zone for increased pressure; and a mechanism for creating the zone of reduced pressure within the inner chamber of the separator for drawing the gas flow towards the drum.