Liquid filtering apparatus

In a liquid filtering apparatus of the type comprising a plurality of vertically stacked plates which are vertically separable and which form filtering chambers having an inlet for liquid to be filtered and an outlet for the filtered liquid and a plurality of supply rolls of filter media in sheet form at one side of said plates and from which a continuous strip of filter media extends to between the separable plates, an apparatus for extracting the used filter media sheet from between the plates when the latter are separated and for simultaneously feeding a fresh, unused section of the filter sheet downstream from each of said supply rolls to the spaces between the separated plates comprising a rigid frame on the opposite downstream side of said plates, a plurality of vertically spaced and generally parallel spaced filter sheet supports on said frame each forming a generally flat surface onto which the used portion of the filter sheet is adapted to be advanced from between the separated filter plates, said support surfaces being narrower than the filter sheet and aligned therewith so that the opposite edges of the filter sheet extend laterally outwardly beyond the opposite longitudinal edges of said support surfaces, a vertically extending carriage mounted on said frame for linear movement in a path generally parallel to said support surfaces, a plurality of vertically spaced clamps on opposite sides of said carriage aligned generally with said support surfaces, said clamps being located laterally outwardly of the opposite longitudinal edges of said support surfaces and in alignment with the opposite longitudinal edges of the filter sheets, said clamps having vertically separable jaws thereon adapted, when closed, to positively grip the sheets along the opposite side edge portions thereof and means for opening and closing said clamps and for reciprocating the carriage lengthwise of the frame such that when the carriage is in its retracted position adjacent the downstream side of said plates the clamps close to engage and grip the opposite edge portions of the filter sheets, the carriage then advances in a downstream direction to extract a section of each used filter sheet from between the separated plates and advances it along said supporting surface and simultaneously fresh sections of the filter sheets are unwound from the supply rolls and drawn into the space between the separated plates.