Deepsea Ventures, Inc.

Glenn E Miller

John P Latimer

Robert M Donaldson

Ted W Christian

A liquid flow system which comprises means to screen long slender objects from a liquid flowing in a conduit. The screening means comprises a set of opposed, aligned, undulating surfaces, each having axes of curvature extending in at least two directions. In another embodiment there is a primary set of corrugated surfaces, with axes extending in a single direction transverse to the direction of fluid flow, and a secondary set of corrugated surfaces mounted on the primary set with axes transverse to the direction of fluid flow and transverse to the axes of the primary set. The undulating surfaces are preferably formed as primary corrugated plates with secondary corrugated plates transversely mounted on each primary corrugated plate. The primary corrugated plates can be moved apart to permit the removal of trapped debris. Dimpled plates can alternatively be us

Liquid flow system including multi-axial liquid flow screening means for

There is provided a dredge vehicle supporting a dredge assembly for collecting ore particles from the ocean floor. The dredge assembly includes several nozzles extending forwardly of the supports for the vehicle, pump means for developing a suction flow into and through the nozzles and a screen to separate the ore particles from most of the water before feeding the ore into, e.g., an airlift system leading to a surface vessel. Preferably, an intake of clear water from above the vehicle is used to carry the ore to and up the airlift system. Advantageously, the water flows straight through the system and exhausts from the rear of the vehicle, and mud is cleared from the ore before bringing the ore to the surface.

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Newport News, VA, United States of America

Glenn E Miller