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US 4,052,297 AGranted
Materials handling apparatus for a ferrofluid sink/float separator
AssigneeAvco Corporation
InventorLeon Mir
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
This invention is directed to a scheme for increasing the height of a ferrofluid column in a ferrofluid sink/float separator by judiciously locating the access openings into the column of ferrofluid so that said opening is on a predetermined air-ferrofluid interface to support a specific height of a ferrofluid column.
Claims7
A ferrofluid sink/float separator with access means into and out of the ferrofluid comprising:
- a. means for supplying a magnetic field capable of supporting an unconstrained column of ferrofluid within the magnetic field, said magnetic field further having defined therein a predetermined volume of space, the top of said volume is positioned in the magnetic field above where the top of the unconstrained column would occur, and
- b. a partially closed container defined by a bottom closure and side walls containing ferrofluid filling said predetermined volume of space and further containing ferrofluid-air interfaces, the location of which are defined by the relationship:
- ______________________________________ ##STR2## where:
- H.sub.z(lower) = the magnetic field intensity at the lower edge of the ferrofluid-air interface, H.sub.z(upper) = the magnetic field intensity at the top surface of the ferrofluid M = the ferrofluid magnetization, dH = the incremental change of the mag- netic field intensity within the ferrofluid, .rho. = the density of the ferrofluid, g = acceleration of gravity, and Z = the vertical distance of any point on the interface below the top sur- face of the ferrofluid. ______________________________________
- c. an access opening in a side wall to expose an interface, the marginal edge of the access opening being no closer to the column of ferrofluid than intercepting the interface.
2 more elements
A ferrofluid sink/float separator with access means into and out of the ferrofluid comprising:
- a. means for supplying a magnetic field capable of supporting an unconstrained column of ferrofluid within the magnetic field, said magnetic field further having defined therein a predetermined volume of space, the top of said volume is positioned in the magnetic field above where the top of the unconstrained column would occur, and
- b. partially closed container defined by a bottom closure and side walls containing ferrofluid filling said predetermined volume of space, and containing ferrofluid-air interfaces;
- the location of said interfaces being defined by the relationship:
- ______________________________________ ##STR3## where:
- H.sub.z(lower) = the magnetic field intensity at the lower edge of the ferrofluid-air interface, H.sub.z(upper) = the magnetic field intensity at the top surface of the ferrofluid M = the ferrofluid magnetization, dH = the incremental change of the mag- netic field intensity within the ferrofluid, .rho. = the density of the ferrofluid, g = acceleration of gravity, and Z = the vertical distance of any point on the interface below the top sur- face of the ferrofluid. ______________________________________
- c. a lower access opening in the side walls for removing sinks and a middle opening for feeding stock to the separator, the respective marginal edges of said openings being no closer to the column of ferrofluid than intercepting an interface.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.