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William W Crafton

James W Crafton

A conveying apparatus for lifting fluid includes a flexible conveyor assembly having a pair of flexible tubes forming respective tubular walls and an endless flexible rope conveyor extending through respective passages defined by the tubular walls. The rope conveyor has riser and return portions and upper and lower end portions. A pair of roller members and a motion-producing device are provided for mounting and moving the rope conveyor about an endless path with the riser and return portions of the conveyor moving in opposite directions relative to one another through the different passages. The riser portion of the rope conveyor and the one tubular wall of the flexible tube surrounding it form an annulus between them extending from a lower inlet end to an upper outlet end of the flexible tube. The radial dimension of the annulus and the velocity at which the rope conveyor is moved are preselected so that the riser portion in moving relative to the one tubular wall causes an annular-shaped turbulent stream of fluid to flow axially upwardly with the riser portion such that the annular-shaped stream is not substantially adhered to riser portion of the moving rope conveyor but instead is entrained by the moving riser portion and moved upwardly within an annular core flow region of the annulus to thereby lift fluid from the inlet end to the outlet end of the one flexible tube.

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Raymore, MO, United States of America

William W Crafton