Patent ID: 7651001

Claim:
An apparatus for separating a first fluid from a mixture of fluids in a container, the first fluid being substantially immiscible with respect to one or more other fluids in the mixture, the apparatus comprising: an endless flexible strip of a material having an affinity for the first fluid and arranged to be advanced through the housing; an advancing assembly engaging the endless flexible strip for advancing the endless flexible strip first through an entry opening in the housing and thereafter through an exit opening in the housing, thereby advancing successive portions of the endless flexible strip sequentially from a position out of contact with the first fluid to a position of contact with the first fluid and again to a position out of contact with the first fluid; more than one pathway within the housing along which the endless flexible strip may be selectively advanced between an entry opening and an exit opening in the housing for each pathway; and means for removing from the endless flexible strip quantities of the first fluid that adhere to the endless flexible strip.