Patent ID: 8287419

Claim:
A shale shaker, comprising: a base; at least one deck coupled to said base, said at least one deck configured to support a mud screen; a support frame coupled to said base; and an asymmetric planetary drive assembly coupled to said support frame for vibrating said support frame and said at least one deck, said asymmetric planetary drive assembly comprising a flywheel gearbox, a sun gear having a central hole that also receives a main shaft of the gearbox, a planetary gear meshed to the sun gear, and at least one eccentric weight coupled to said planetary gear; wherein the planetary gear comprises a central axis bore that receives a planetary gear shaft through a central hole in the planetary gear, and said gearbox receives said main shaft through a central hole in the gearbox, and wherein said planetary gear shaft is offset from said main shaft; wherein said eccentric weight is coupled to said planetary gear offset from said main shaft; and wherein the gearbox rotates with respect to the main shaft but the sun gear is fixed to the main shaft and does not rotate with respect to the main shaft when the shale shaker is operating to filter process fluid.