Dump bucket for a wet/dry vacuum system

Claim 1

In a dump bucket for a vacuum cleaner system, said dump bucket comprising: a cylindrical container having a bottom wall and a top wall and containing liquid therein and having its axis extending vertically; a hollow riser tube extending upwardly from the bottom of the container and open at the bottom to the container exterior and being open at the top but terminating short of the container top wall; tube means for introducing a flow of return fluid comprising air and contaminants into said container mounted within said container and extending vertically therein, said tube means including wall means defining separate, adjacent, parallel vertical first downwardly directed and second upwardly directed flow paths respectively; said tube means further including a hollow, fluid return tube projecting through a wall of the container near its top and being in fluid communication with said first flow path at the upper end thereof, said tube means being closed off at its bottom and said tube means further including means forming a venturi for fluidly communicating said flow paths at the bottom of said tube means and increasing the velocity of the return fluid flow; at least one aperture in said tube means near its bottom end in such proximity to said venturi and opening to said second flow path that liquid filling said container to a level above said at least one aperture is aspirated by return fluid moving through said venturi and upwardly into said second flow path to entrain said contaminates, and an opening in said tube means communicating the upper end of said second flow path to the container interior; whereby, a mixture of the return fluid and liquid flowing within said second flow path is discharged through the opening within said tube means for impact against the container interior and to separate the liquid and contaminate components from the air when vacuum pressure is applied to the hollow riser tube at the bottom of the dump bucket container, to effect filtering of the return fluid stream.