Fluid barrier curtain system

Claim 1

A fluid barrier curtain at an aperture to maintain separation of fluids on opposite sides of said barrier curtain while permitting passage of objects through said aperture, comprising: means defining an aperture zone through which objects may pass; and a fluid curtain barrier system for substantially opposing transverse interchange of fluids across said aperture zone, said fluid curtain barrier system comprising means for supplying fluid to the fluid curtain barrier system, fluid flow shaping means directing the supplied fluid flow in a concentrated laminar sheet substantially within said zone and from one boundary of said zone toward an opposite boundary thereof, receiving means located opposite said laminar fluid flow shaping means for receiving a resulting flow stream and fluids entrained therewith and inducing the fluids arriving in its vicinity to be collected together and caused to emerge from said aperture zone as a coherent fluid effluent, said receiving means including an opening extending across the opposite boundary of said aperture zone, said opening being wider in the direction transverse of said aperture zone than the width of the laminar sheet of fluid exiting said fluid flow shaping means, a box-like housing extending from said opening away from the aperture zone, and a plurality of spaced-apart vanes fixedly poisitioned in said housing and having thin edges substantially coplanar with said opening, said vanes being substantially parallel to said aperture zone through which objects may pass and serving to separate the fluid flowing out of the aperture zone into laminar-flow segments.