Patent ID: 8628458

Claim:
A separator comprising: a separator drum having a conical interior and rotatably mounted at an axial end about a vertical axis of rotation; a rotating spindle located at one of a lower and upper end of the separator drum and configured to drive the separator drum, the rotating spindle being disposed in an oscillating manner about a hinge point; a supply tube for a product to be processed; a separation pan assembly located in a separation zone of the separator drum; two fluid outlets, one fluid outlet for a light phase and one fluid outlet for a heavy phase, the fluid outlet for the light phase including a centripetal pump and the fluid outlet for the heavy phase is an overflow outlet which does not include a centripetal pump, and the separation zone is open to the environment via the overflow outlet, a solid material discharge opening located in an area of the separator drum's largest inner circumference; a pressure chamber configured to be acted upon by a fluid to change a location of a separation zone between the light phase and the heavy phase; wherein a centripetal chamber around the centripetal pump is bounded in an axially downward and in an axially upward direction by first and second blocking disks, which blocking disks extend radially from an outside circumference of the drum toward an inside circumference of the drum, and which blocking disks have radii extending from the axis of rotation, which radii are smaller than an outer radius of the centripetal pump; and wherein the pressure chamber is constructed between a baffle plate arranged axially in front of the overflow outlet for the heavy phase and one of the blocking disks bounding the centripetal chamber in the axially upward direction.