Material cleaning apparatus

Claim 1

APPARATUS FOR CLEANING PARTICULATE MATERIAL, SUCH AS GRAVEL OR THE LIKE, SAID APPARATUS COMPRISING, A LIQUID-CONNFFINING TANK, A GENERALLY HORIZONTALLY ORIENTED STRATIFYING STRUCTURE SHIFTABLY MOUNTED IN SAID TANK BELOW THE LIQUID LEVEL THEREIN, OSCILLATOR MECHANISM CONNECTED TO SAID, STRATIFYING STRUCTURE FOR OSCILLATING THE SAME AND CAUSING MIXED MATERIALS THEREON TO MOVE FROM AN INGRESS END OF THE STRATIFYING STRUCTURE TOWARDS AN ENGRESSED END THEREOF WHEREBY TO CAUSE THE LIGHTER MATERIALS OF THE MIXTURE TO RISE IN A LAYER ABOVE THE HEAVIER MATERIALS, THE LATTER BEING DISCHARGED OVER THE EGRESS END OF THE STRATIFYING STRUCTURE, AN OVERFLOW TUBE DEVCE EXTENDING INTO SAID TANK AND POSITIONED ADJACENT THE EGRESS END OF SAID STRATIFYING STRUCTURE FOR REMOVING THE LIGHTER MATERIAL FROM THE TANK, SAID TANK HAVING AT LEAST A PORTION THEREOF SHAPED TO DEFINE AN ELONGATED INCLINED TROUGH STRUCTURE HAVING THE LOWER END PORTION THEREOF UNDERLYING SAID STRATIFYING STRUCTURE AND RECEIVING THE HEAVIER PARTICULATE MATERIAL FROM THE EGRESS END OF THE STRATIFYING STRUCTURE, SAID TROUGH STRUCTURE HAVING A DISCHARGE OUTLET AT THE UPPER END THEREOF LOCATED ABOVE THE LEVEL OF LIQUID WITHIN SAID TANK,