Harvesters – Marine
Patent
1993-04-02
1994-09-20
Melius, Terry Lee
Harvesters
Marine
A01D 4400
Patent
active
053477987
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates generally to a harvesting apparatus, and relates particularly to a harvester and separator for use in a water environment. Particularly, the harvesting apparatus of this invention is suitably used in conjunction with a water vessel. More particularly the harvesting apparatus is capable of collecting surface or near-surface water, and of separating therefrom matter contained therein.
The matter to be separated may be any type of matter such as plankton, whether it be zooplankton or phytoplankton, dispersed oil from oil spills or the like, or even flotsam such as discarded rubbish or other solid pollutants. Further description of the invention will generally relate to the harvesting of zooplankton from a mass of water such as the waters of seas, rivers, ponds, and lakes or the like.
Plankton are small animal and plant organisms having weak locomotive power, which float or drift in the water and which form an integral part in the aquatic food chain. Various aquacultural installations particularly those involved with the culture of marine species such as prawn farms, demand a reliable supply of live zooplankton. This in turn may demand the harvesting, separation, and concentration of plankton. To date, fixed harvesting and separating systems have been proposed but those have inherent disadvantages and limitations.
Zooplankton naturally employ spacial and temporal variability as a defense against predators. They do not remain in one location, and may appear in or disappear from an area in the water mass at random thus ensuring survival. As such, known harvesting and separating systems cannot provide efficient harvesting as they either lack flexibility or volume. Specifically, a system having a large pumping facility is very difficult to relocate when required, while systems having the ability to be portable generally have pumping systems which are of low volume.
Further, known harvesting devices extract water with entrained plankton from a pond or the like, and either recirculate the water back to the pond, or dump the water elsewhere. The latter method has obvious problems of having to continually re-fill the pond, and the former method requires extra piping and usually creates unwanted currents away from the inlet which disperse the accumulated plankton. Both options also cause the serious problem of dilution of the water, with respect to both the volume and location of the plankton.
An object of the present invention is to obviate, or at least partially alleviate, the above disadvantages of known harvesting and separating systems.
The present invention provides a harvesting apparatus including an inlet means capable of selectively engaging a body of water at or near the surface thereof; to the at least one first separating stage by relative movement between the inlet means and the body of water; stage capable of independent vertical movement; and operable to control the flow rate of water over said inlet means to said first separating stage, and able to be co-ordinated so as to adjust the height, depth or angle of the first separating stage relative to the surface of the body of water.
It is preferred that the inlet means and first separating stage are in pivotal communication with each other, and are capable of relative movement to each other. It is most preferred that the control means is operable to control this movement. The pivotal communication may be provided by a direct pivotal axis between the inlet means and first separating stage, however, it is most preferred this pivotal communication is provided by an interim platform placed between the inlet means and first separating stage with each of said inlet means and first separating stage capable of separate pivotal movement from the interim platform. The control means may be operable to raise or lower the interim platform.
The inlet means may be of a variety of forms, but most preferably of a form capable of creating at least a wash over the first separating stage. For example, when incorporated into a water vessel the in
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Frish Pty. Ltd.
Melius Terry Lee
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