Dewatering apparatus for waste recovery systems

Claim 1

Apparatus for transporting and dewatering a liquid-solid material mixture comprising: an elongated screen in the shape of a trough, an auger comprising a plurality of flightings journaled for rotation in said trough with the flightings of said auger providing a positive pitch along the length of said trough, said screen comprising a U-shaped configuration mounted to closely surround said flightings and receiving therewithin, and over at least a part of, said flightings at points along its length the material mixture, said flightings having outside edges that upon rotation of said auger move over the inside periphery of said screen, and brush means detachably mounted on the edges of said flightings for brushing over perforations in said screen to aid in keeping them open for draining liquid from the material mixture, said screen being formed of stainless steel bars spacedly arranged in a direction longitudinal of said auger with the edges of said bars forming the outer periphery of said screen being tapered toward each other to provide an orifice between juxtapositioned bars of between 0.005 and 0.060 inches in width, and a frame, spring means for resiliently mounting said frame in a ditch, means for mounting said trough on said frame, and a vibratory means connected to said frame for vibrating said screen to aid in keeping the openings therein clear of the separate portions of the material mixture.