Importance

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Abstract

An apparatus for separating granular material such as crushed coal or ore that includes particles of different specific gravity. The apparatus includes an elongated frame defining a receiving chute and a discharge chute. A plurality of hydraulic cells are supported in tanden on the frame, each cell including a wave chamber, a screen forming a material supporting floor submerged in the wave chamber, plungers for cyclically raising and lowering the water level in the wave chamber and a refuse bin adapted to receive heavier particles that are separated out in the wave chamber and that collect above the screen. The wave chambers define a flow channel extending from the receiving chute to the discharge chute and adapted to contain a suspension or slurry of the crushed particles. The plungers for each cell operate in a cooperative manner to generate a wave which progresses from the upstream end to the downstream end, the plungers having a decreasing stroke so that some reinforcement of the wave is provided but the amplitude diminishes gradually toward the downstream end of the flow channel. With this arrangement, the hydrodynamic separation proceeds from a relatively rough level to a relatively fine level at the downstream cell. Accordingly, the downstream cell has the capability of separating out even those particles relatively close in specific gravity to that of the desired particles.

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First Claim