Liquid treatment apparatus

Claim 2

Liquid treating apparatus comprising: A. a tank having a treated liquid outlet at its upper end and a settled solids outlet at its bottom, a rotatable rake adjacent the bottom of said tank for moving settled solids toward said settled solids outlet, and power-driven means for rotating said rake; B. an open-ended vertical updraft tube centered in said tank, the lower end of said tube terminating above said rake, the upper end of said tube terminating below the upper surface of the liquid in said tank, baffle means surrounding and coaxial with said tube, the upper end of said baffle means extending above the upper surface of the liquid in said tank, and the lower end of said baffle means terminating above said lower end of said tube, said baffle means defining a solids mixing and recirculation zone in said tank surrounding said tube; C. a manifold for untreated liquid around said tube, means connecting said manifold to a pressurized source of untreated liquid; D. a plurality of untreated liquid inlet nozzles defining liquid passages therethrough, each having an upwardly directed outlet end within said tube, an inlet end of said nozzle communicating with the inside of said manifold, the pressurized liquid exiting from said nozzles flowing rapidly up and out of said upper end of said tube, thereby drawing settled solids into said lower end of said tube and through said tube where such solids mix with such untreated liquid; E. means for automatically regulating the quantity of settled solids drawn upwardly into said tube as the flow of incoming untreated liquid varies comprising pressure sensitive means for automatically varying the size of the liquid passages in at least some of said nozzles in proportion to the volume of liquid flowing into said manifold; F. means defining a solids settling zone in said tank.

Claim 3

The invention defined in claim 1, wherein said nozzles are uniformly spaced apart in said tube.

Claim 4

The invention defined in claim 2, wherein the number of nozzles is an even number greater than five, and every other nozzle includes said automatic regulating means.

Claim 5

The invention defined in claim 1, wherein said pressure sensitive means controls the size of said inlet end of some of said nozzles.

Claim 6

The invention defined in claim 4, wherein said pressure sensitive means is a spring actuated poppet valve.

Claim 7

The invention defined in claim 1, wherein said pressure sensitive means controls the size of said outlet end of some of said nozzles.

Claim 8

The invention defined in claim 6, wherein said pressure sensitive means is a weighted valve closure member that is pulled by gravity against the liquid flow so as to close a passage in said outlet end.

Claim 9

The invention defined in claim 1, wherein said liquid treating apparatus is sized to treat a varying volume of liquid in a predetermined flow range, and said automatic regulating means completely stops flow through some of said nozzles when such volume of flow is at the lowest value of said flow range.

Claim 10

The invention defined in claim 8, wherein said automatic regulating means stops flow through at least half of said nozzles.

Claim 11

Water treating apparatus comprising: A. a cylindrical open-topped tank having a treated water overflow outlet weir adjacent its upper end and a sump for collecting settled solids at its bottom, a rotatable rake adjacent said bottom for moving settled solids toward said sump, power driven vertical shaft means coaxial with the center of said tank connected to said rake for rotating said rake, and means for removing settled solids from said sump; B. a generally cylindrical, open-ended vertical updraft tube of predetermined diameter surrounding and coaxial with said shaft means, the lower end of said tube terminating above but adjacent said rake, the upper end of said tube terminating below the upper surface of the water in said tank, an even number of upwardly directed untreated water inlet nozzles defining liquid passages therethrough uniformly spaced in said tube, a manifold for untreated water surrounding said tube, an inlet end of each of said nozzles being connected to the inside of said manifold, and means connecting said manifold to a pressurized source of untreated water, the pressurized water exiting from said nozzles flowing rapidly up and out of said upper end of said tube and drawing settled solids into said lower end of said tube and through said tube where such solids mix with incoming untreated water; C. a cylindrical baffle surrounding and coaxial with said tube, the upper end of said baffle extending above the upper surface of the water in said tank, and the lower end of said baffle terminating above said lower end of said tube, said baffle defining a mixing and recirculation zone in said tank surrounding said tube; D. means for automatically regulating the quantity of settled solids drawn upwardly into said tube as the flow of incoming untreated water varies comprising pressure sensitive means for automatically varying the size of said liquid passages in half of said nozzles in proportion to the volume of liquid flowing into said manifold; and E. means defining a solids settling zone including the lower portion of said tank.

Claim 12

Water treating apparatus comprising: A. a cylindrical open-topped tank having a treated water overflow outlet weir adjacent its upper end and a sump for collecting settled solids at its bottom, a rotatable rake adjacent said bottom for moving settled solids toward said sump, power driven vertical shaft means coaxial with the center of said tank connected to said rake for rotating said rake, and means for removing settled solids from said sump; B. a generally cylindrical, open-ended vertical updraft tube of predetermined diameter surrounding and coaxial with said shaft means, the lower end of said tube terminating above but adjacent said rake, the upper end of said tube terminating below the upper surface of the water in said tank, an even number of upwardly directed untreated water inlet nozzles defining liquid passages therethrough uniformly spaced in said tube, a manifold for untreated water surrounding said tube, an inlet end of each of said nozzles being connected to the inside of said manifold, and means connecting said manifold to a pressurized source of untreated water, the pressurized water exiting from said nozzles flowing rapidly up and out of said upper end of said tube and drawing settled solids into said lower end of said tube and through said tube where such solids mix with incoming untreated water; C. a cylindrical baffle surrounding and coaxial with said tube, the upper end of said baffle extending above the upper surface of the water in said tank, and the lower end of said baffle terminating above said lower end of said tube, said baffle defining a mixing and recirculation zone in said tank surrounding said tube; D. means for automatically regulating the quantity of settled solids drawn upwardly into said tube as the flow of incoming untreated water varies comprising pressure sensitive means for automatically varying the size of said liquid passages in half of said nozzles in proportion to the volume of liquid flowing into said manifold; and E. means defining a solids settling zone including the lower portion of said tank.