Fish egg and larvae collection system
AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Interior
InventorSteven D. Hiebert
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system for continuously collecting and preserving fish eggs and larvae by pumping, concentrating, separating, and preserving samples for a specific period of time or volume. Water containing fish eggs and larvae is pumped by a centrifugal pump through smooth-walled plumbing into a headbox. Water flows out of the headbox over a sheet-metal ogee crest down over an inclined panel and then across a wedge-wire screen. Water with retained material drops through smooth-walled plumbing and a swing-joint union into a diverter arm. The swing-joint union is coupled through a chain and sprocket to a stepper motor programmable to position the diverter arm over each of the sample buckets. A peristaltic pump operates on a preset time and delivers a calculated concentration of formalin to a previously filled sample bucket.
Claims8
A system for the collection and preservation of fish eggs and larvae samples comprising:
- means for continuously passing water containing fish eggs and larvae into an energy dissipator,
- means for distributing said water into sheet flow,
- means for dewatering and retaining said fish eggs and larvae samples,
- means for diverting said samples into a plurality of sample collection means, and
- means for preserving said samples.
A system for the collection and preservation of fish eggs and larvae samples comprising:
- means for continuously passing water flow containing fish eggs and larvae over a sheet metal ogee crest and over an inclined solid panel,
- an angularly adjustable flat, wedge-wire screen, oriented with bars and openings parallel to said water flow for dewatering and retaining said samples,
- a diverter arm coupled through a chain and sprocket to a stepper motor, programmed for diverting said samples into a plurality of sample collection means, and
- a peristaltic pump operating on a preset time and delivering a calculated concentration of formalin to said sample collection means.
A process for collecting and preserving fish eggs and larvae samples comprising the steps of:
- pumping a life sustaining amount of water along with said fish eggs and larvae into a container for dissipating energy,
- distributing said water into sheet flow,
- dewatering and retaining said fish eggs and larvae samples,
- diverting said samples into a plurality of sample collection means, and
- preserving said samples with a calculated concentration of formalin.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.