SKIMMER
A self-floating skimmer that can operate remotely from a vessel. Pontoons allow the skimmer to float at the surface of a body of water. An inclined belt conveyor whose lower end is submerged just below the surface of the water conveys material to be collected up the incline to the upper end where it is dumped from the surface of the belt into a collection tank below. For convenience in storage or transit, the skimmers can be stacked atop one another. The belt conveyor can include a bidirectional conveyor belt that is driven in either direction by a selectively reversible drive motor.
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The invention relates generally to skimmers and more particularly to floating skimmers using conveyor belts to skim oil, vegetation, or floating debris from the surface of a body of water.
Skimmers are used to collect aquatic vegetation or to clean up oil spills or floating debris. In the case of oil spills, skimmers skim oil floating at the surface of a body of water and collect the oil in a reservoir for disposal or processing. Belt conveyors extending into the water are often used to catch the oil and convey it to a reservoir. Similarly, belt conveyors are also used to drag vegetation or solid floating debris out of a body of water. Many of these belt skimmers are affixed to a powered vessel, such as a boat. The skimmer is deployed from the boat. Because the boat provides the flotation for these skimmers, the amplitude of the up-and-down motion of the skimmer due to wave action can be significant because of the length and width, or beam, of the boat. This up-and-down motion can cause the skimmer to rise out of the water and miss oil, vegetation, or debris to be skimmed. Furthermore, when deployed from a large boat with a deep draft, the skimmer is unable to operate in shallow or confined areas.
SUMMARYThese shortcomings are overcome by a skimmer embodying features of the invention. Such a skimmer comprises a frame and a pair of floats mounted on opposite outer sides of the frame. The floats have parallel float axes defining a horizontal plane when floating in a body of water. A belt conveyor is mounted to the frame between the pair of floats and defines a conveying path inclined relative to the horizontal plane between a lower end and an upper end. The belt conveyor includes a rotating drive element at the upper end of the belt conveyor, a reversing element at the lower end of the belt conveyor, and an endless conveyor belt trained around the rotating drive element and the reversing element and driven by the rotating drive element along the conveying path, which includes an underwater portion at the lower end of the conveyor at which material to be skimmed is captured. A trough is positioned below the conveyor belt to catch skimmed material falling off the conveyor belt. In the case of an oil skimmer, a scraper contacting the conveyor belt proximate the trough scrapes excess oil from the conveyor belt and directs the oil into the trough.
Another version of a skimmer comprises a frame and a pair of floats mounted on opposite outer sides of the frame. The floats have parallel float axes defining a horizontal plane when floating in a body of water. A belt conveyor is mounted to the frame between the pair of floats and defines a conveying path inclined relative to the horizontal plane between a lower end and an upper end. The belt conveyor includes an endless conveyor belt arranged to advance along the conveying path including an underwater portion at the lower end of the belt conveyor at which material to be skimmed is captured. A selectively reversible motor selectively drives the conveyor belt in either direction along the conveying path. A trough positioned below the conveyor belt catches skimmed material falling off the conveyor belt.
These features of the drawings, as well as its advantages, are better understood by referring to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings, in which:
A floating skimmer embodying features of the invention is shown in
The endless conveyor belt 14 is trained around a rotating drive element 36 at the upper end 19 of the conveyor 12 and a reversing element 38 at the lower end 18. The upper and lower runs and the paths the belt follows around the drive and reversing elements constitute a conveying path, a portion of which is underwater during deployment to capture floating material to be collected. As shown in
A collection trough 56 is attached to the conveyor frame by a pair of short posts 58, as shown in
As shown in
Another version of a skimmer is shown in
The skimmer has a grooved flat hull 91 that is attached to the bottom of the trough 56 and extends almost to the lower posts 22 at the lower end of the conveyor. A cross-beam 100 connects the hull to the frame. Openings across the width of the cross-beam channel water along the length of the hull. Besides protecting the belt in the conveyor return run, the flat hull allows the skimmer to skim across the waves as it is being towed trough-first at high speed in transit to another location. The trough-formed bow gives the skimmer stability for high-speed towing. The low tow point, together with the flat hull that is below the bottom of the pontoons' hulls, keeps the bow formed by the angled-bottom trough 56 elevated, with the pontoons generally completely above the water line. The sides of the flat hull, except at the end attached to the bottom of the trough and where attached to the cross-beam 100, are not attached to any part of the skimmer's frame. Consequently, water can enter the space 99 above the hull up to the water line when the hull is submerged during skimming and flotation is being provided by the pontoons. Only when the skimmer is being towed trough-first at a speed high enough for the hull to ride atop the waves will water not fill the space above the flat hull. Inverted V-shaped grooves 102 running the length of the flat hull form openings along the end of the hull attached to the trough. The openings at the grooves allow air to enter the space and help push water off the top side 104 of the hull. The openings also allow air and water to drain at the trough end when the oil skimmer is pitched forward. The hull is tangent to the bottom of the lower post 22. Diverter shields 106 mounted to the frame just above the ends of the hull proximate the lower end of the conveyor direct the flow of water from the top side of the hull away from the bottom ends of the posts 22 and the lower end of the conveyor. Additional eyes 95,96 on the upper and lower posts provide additional attachment points for securing the skimmer. Oil or water may be drained from the trough 56 through a drain hole 98 on the bottom of the trough. Like the posts in the skimmer of
Although the invention has been described in detail with reference to a couple of versions, others are possible. For example, the floats could be made of foam rather than the hollow pontoons shown. Or the pontoons could be foam-filled to make them leak-proof. The pontoons could be shaped other than hexagonal or U-shaped; they could square, oval, circular, or octagonal, for example. And the bottom of the trough could be smoothly curved rather than angled. Furthermore, the pontoons could be made shorter, extending from the lower end of the conveyor a shorter distance back toward the upper end.
Claims
1. A skimmer comprising:
- a frame;
- a pair of floats mounted on opposite outer sides of the frame and having parallel float axes defining a horizontal plane when floating in a body of water;
- a belt conveyor mounted to the frame between the pair of floats and defining a conveying path inclined relative to the horizontal plane between a lower end and an upper end, wherein the belt conveyor includes: a rotating drive element at the upper end of the belt conveyor; a reversing element at the lower end of the belt conveyor; an endless conveyor belt trained around the rotating drive element and the reversing element and driven by the rotating drive element along the conveying path including an underwater portion at the lower end of the belt conveyor at which material to be skimmed is captured;
- a trough positioned below the conveyor belt to catch skimmed material falling off the conveyor belt.
2. A skimmer as in claim 1 wherein the trough has a bottom that extends below the horizontal plane and floats in the body of water.
3. A skimmer as in claim 2 wherein the bottom of the trough is angled to form a bow for the skimmer.
4. A skimmer as in claim 1 wherein the floats are hexagonal tubes.
5. A skimmer as in claim 1 wherein the floats have a U-shaped hull.
6. A skimmer as in claim 1 wherein the floats have angled end plates to prevent diving.
7. A skimmer as in claim 1 wherein the frame includes vertical posts attached to the outer sides of the frame and having plates at top ends of the posts for stacking skimmers atop each other.
8. A skimmer as in claim 1 further comprising a pair of lower vertical posts attached to the frame on opposite sides of the conveyor belt near the lower end of the belt conveyor and a pair of upper vertical posts attached to the frame on opposite sides of the conveyor belt near the upper end of the belt conveyor, wherein the lower vertical posts are vertically offset from the upper vertical posts.
9. A skimmer as in claim 8 further comprising a flat horizontal plate at a top end of each of the upper and lower vertical posts.
10. A skimmer as in claim 1 wherein the belt conveyor further includes a plurality of Z-shaped transverse supports supporting the conveyor belt between the upper and lower ends of the belt conveyor.
11. A skimmer as in claim 1 further comprising a grooved flat hull attached to the trough and extending below the belt conveyor to the lower end, wherein the flat hull is below the bottoms of the pair of floats.
12. A skimmer as in claim 1 wherein the trough does not extend below the horizontal plane.
13. A skimmer as in claim 1 comprising a selectively reversible conveyor motor rotating the rotating drive element and selectively changing the direction of travel of the conveyor belt along the conveying path.
14. A skimmer as in claim 1 further comprising a scraper contacting the conveyor belt proximate the trough to scrape skimmed material from the conveyor belt and direct the skimmed material into the trough.
15. A skimmer comprising:
- a frame;
- a pair of floats mounted on opposite outer sides of the frame and having parallel float axes defining a horizontal plane when floating in a body of water;
- a belt conveyor mounted to the frame between the pair of floats and defining a conveying path inclined relative to horizontal plane between a lower end and an upper end, wherein the belt conveyor includes: an endless conveyor belt arranged to advance along the conveying path including an underwater portion at the lower end of the belt conveyor at which material to be skimmed is captured; a selectively reversible motor to selectively drive the conveyor belt in either direction along the conveying path;
- a trough positioned below the conveyor belt to catch skimmed material falling off the conveyor belt.
16. A skimmer as in claim 15 wherein the trough has a bottom that extends below the horizontal plane and floats in the body of water.
17. A skimmer as in claim 16 wherein the bottom of the trough is angled to form a bow for the skimmer.
18. A skimmer as in claim 15 wherein the floats are hexagonal tubes.
19. A skimmer as in claim 15 wherein the floats have a U-shaped hull.
20. A skimmer as in claim 15 wherein the floats have angled end plates to prevent diving.
21. A skimmer as in claim 15 wherein the frame includes vertical posts attached to the outer sides of the frame and having plates at top ends of the posts for stacking skimmers atop each other.
22. A skimmer as in claim 15 further comprising a pair of lower vertical posts attached to the frame on opposite sides of the conveyor belt near the lower end of the belt conveyor and a pair of upper vertical posts attached to the frame on opposite sides of the conveyor belt near the upper end of the belt conveyor, wherein the lower vertical posts are vertically offset from the upper vertical posts.
23. A skimmer as in claim 22 further comprising a flat horizontal plate at a top end of each of the upper and lower vertical posts.
24. A skimmer as in claim 15 wherein the belt conveyor further includes a plurality of Z-shaped transverse supports supporting the conveyor belt between the upper and lower ends of the belt conveyor.
25. A skimmer as in claim 15 further comprising a grooved flat hull attached to the trough and extending below the belt conveyor to the lower end, wherein the flat hull is below the bottoms of the pair of floats.
26. A skimmer as in claim 15 wherein the trough does not extend below the horizontal plane.
27. A skimmer as in claim 15 further comprising a scraper contacting the conveyor belt proximate the trough to scrape skimmed material from the conveyor belt and direct the skimmed material into the trough.
Type: Application
Filed: Jul 7, 2011
Publication Date: Jul 17, 2014
Applicant: Laitram, L.L.C. (Harahan, LA)
Inventors: Christopher G. Greve (Covington, LA), Robert S. Lapeyre (New Orleans, LA)
Application Number: 13/807,529