Waste collector

Claim 1

In a grinding machine, a frame including a table, a grinding wheel operatively mounted on the frame, a self-contained waterfall-type waste collector comprising a housing fixed to the table in downstream relation to the grinding wheel for collecting debris moving along a path downstream from the grinding wheel, a plate secured to the housing, the plate being of generally Ushaped configuration defining a spillway for providing a continuously wetted surface for entrapping debris moving along a path downstream from the grinding wheel, the housing providing a reservoir behind the spillway including a pair of spaced opposed troughs behind opposite sides of the U-shaped plate and a central trough behind a central portion of the U-shaped plate and interconnecting the spaced opposed troughs to jointly define a reservoir of generally uniform height and of U-shaped configuration generally corresponding to that of the spillway, the bottom of the spaced opposed troughs being in vertically raised relation to that of the central trough of the reservoir with the central trough of the reservoir having a depth greater than that of the spaced opposed troughs, a recirculating fluid system providing a continuous gravity flow of collection liquid over the spillway, a compartment underlying the spillway, a drainage chamber in communication with the compartment, a fluid connection between the drainage chamber and the central trough of the reservoir, a pump for pumping collection liquid through the fluid connection into the reservoir to flow over the spillway, and a filter disposed in the central trough of the reservoir behind the central portion of the spillway for separating debris from the collection liquid, to permit facile installation and removal of the filter in a waste collector of compact size.