Cleaning water surfaces

Claim 1

APPARATUS FOR REMOVING OIL AND OTHER SIMILAR FLOATING IMPURITIES FORMING AN UPPER LAYER OF A FLOW OF WATER, COMPRISING AN ENDLESS CONVEYOR BELT FORMED OF A PLURALITY OF ENDLESS COMPONENT BANDS LOCATED ADJACENT BUT SPACED APART FROM ONE ANOTHER AND MOUNTED ON AT LEAST ONE LOWER ROLLER AND ONE UPPER ROLLER SPACED FROM ONE ANOTHER, SAID BELT BEING COMPOSED OF MATERIAL TO WHICH THE OIL STICKS AND HAVING AN UPPER RUN AND A SUBSTANTIALLY STRAIGHT LOWER RUN, SAID BELT BEING ADAPTED TO BE PASSED DOWNWARDLY THROUGH THE LAYER OF OIL AND IMPURITIES INTO THE WATER THEREBENEATH SO THAT THE LOWER RUN EXTENDS INTO THE WATER AT AN INCLINDED ANGLE TO THE SURFACE THEREOF IN THE DIRECTION OF WATER FLOW, MOTOR MEANS FOR DRIVING THE BELT SO THAT SAID LOWER RUN THEREOF TRAVELS IN A DIRECTION CORRESPONDING GENERALLY TO THE DIRECTION OF WATER FLOW WHEREBY OIL FROM THE UPPER LAYER IS ENTRAINABLE BY SAID LOWER RUN THROUGH THE WATER THEREBENEATH, AROUND THE LOWER ROLLER IMMERSED IN THE WATER AND UPWARDLY OUT OF THE WATER ALONG SAID UPPER RUN, AND A CLEANER FOR REMOVING THE OIL FROM SAID BELT LOCATED ADJACENT SAID UPPER RUN THEREOF BETWEEN THE SURFACE OF THE WATER AND SAID UPPER ROLLER, THE BANDS BEING MADE OF A PLASTIC MATERIAL AND THE CLEANER BEING FORMED BY COMBLIKE SCRAPERS WHICH SCRAPE OIL FROM THE BANDS ADJACENT THE UPPER ROLLER INTO AN OIL COLLECTING TANK.