Apparatus for collecting oil slick from a body of water

In an apparatus floating on and propelled through a body of water for progressively intercepting and picking up a strip from a layer of oil off the surface of the body of water, the combination of:

• an endless belt conveyor means having a front end pointing in the direction of propulsion, said conveyor means embodying an endless conveyor belt rising from a lower front end loop to an elevated rearward loop, and lower front end and elevated rearward rotatable drums in said loops;
• a rotatable pick-up drum conveyor means embodying a pick-up drum mounted above said belt conveyor means for rotation on a horizontal axis generally in the region above said front end drum for the conveyor belt;
• buoyant carrier means floatable on the body of water and having means for supporting both said conveyor means, with said lower front end conveyor belt drum being located and positioned relative to said carrier means as to be partially below the surface of the body of water, and with said pick-up drum located and positioned relative to said carrier means so that a lower circumferential surface of said drum is located opposite to and adjacent the front end loop of said conveyor and below the surface of the body of water to encounter the layer of oil on the water;
• means for driving the conveyor belt in a direction with its upper stretch travelling up said inclined path;
• and means for rotating said drum so that its lower periphery travels in the same direction as said upper stretch of said belt.

In an apparatus for intercepting and picking up oil from the surface of a body of water:

• an endless revolving conveyor belt having a lower front end loop which dips into the water below the surface thereof, and a rearward loop elevated above the water surface;
• means for driving said belt so that the upper stretch of said belt travels upwardly in the direction from said lower front end loop toward said rearward loop;
• a rotatable drum located over said upper stretch of said belt in a position to dip into the water and to encounter a layer of oil on the surface thereof;
• and means for revolving said drum so that the underside of said drum and said upper stretch of said conveyor belt travel in the same direction, so that both tend to move oil picked up thereby in the same direction.