Cyclone-type aspirated separator for washing dirt-laden dry airstreams

Abstract

This invention relates to a cyclone-type aspirated dirt separator for use in washing dirt from dirt-laden dry airstreams and, more particularly, to a device of the class described which is especially suited for use with a dry pick-up vacuum cleaner as a means for collecting the dirt it picks up in a water bath. The separator is characterized by a riser tube with an open top and an opening in its lower end immersed in a water bath into which dirt-laden dry air is introduced tangentially for ascending spiral movement therethrough while simultaneously aspirating water. Internal baffles create turbulent flow in the water/dirt-laden air mixture and they thus prevent vortexing which otherwise results in a relatively unwashed dirt-laden air column centered inside a hollow water column. A venturi adjacent the outlet of the riser tube accelerates the turbulent mixture against a dome in the underside of the cannister lid where the clean air separates and the dirt-laden water cascades down the outside of the riser tube back into the bucket containing the water bath. The invention also contemplates a removable cannister lid and aspirator subassembly that provides ready access to the bucket containing the dirty water that sits inside the cannister well.