Separation of materials

Abstract

A separation system and method of separating solid particles of various sizes into oversize and undersize solids is described herein. The system includes a chamber for receiving feed material that includes a fluid containing solid particles of various sizes, and a flexible medium bounding the chamber and adapted to provide a selective barrier through which some solid particles can pass but not others. The system further includes a vibrator adapted to impart vibration to the flexible medium to facilitate passage of fluid and certain solid particles therethrough. The vibrator is further adapted to apply vibration to one or more discrete locations on an exterior face of the flexible medium with respect to the chamber, with the vibration causing the flexible medium to oscillate towards and away from fluid within the chamber.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.