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US 5,042,187 AGranted
Brine shrimp harvester
OwnerPatrick Bentzleyinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus for harvesting floating brine shrimp colonies from open water is disclosed. The apparatus includes a boat fitted with a driven roller arrangement adapted to engage and retrieve a floating boom positioned to enclose the subject shrimp colony. A conveyor belt fitted with a plurality of net-fitted frames is also mounted on the boat and is positioned to receive and filter the shrimp from the water as the roller arrangement tightens the boom enclosure about the shrimp colony and thereby directs that colony into proximity of the conveyor and its net-fitted frames.
Claims11
An apparatus for harvesting shrimp from water, said apparatus comprising:
- an elongate floating boom positionable about a colony of shrimp to be harvested to form an enclosure about said colony of shrimp, said enclosure having an outlet, said boom comprising:
- a float means for retaining said boom proximate a surface level of said water,
- a substantially solid elongate sheet mounted on said float means, said sheet being adapted for vertically disposed positioning within water, and
- a weight means mounted on said sheet for urging said sheet into a vertically disposed orientation;
- a boat;
- a boom retrieval means mounted on said boat for engaging said boom and retrieving said boom, thereby decreasing a spatial area defined within said enclosure, said boom retrieval means being adapted for urging said shrimp, confined within said enclosure, through said enclosure outlet;
- and
- a filtering means;
- mounted on said boat and positionable proximate said enclosure outlet, for filtering shrimp exiting said enclosure outlet from said water and transferring said shrimp to a storage container on said boat.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.