DefinitionApparatus and process, not provided for elsewhere, for the breaking up or subdividing of material, which material comprises a mixture of fluids or fluent substances, into two or more components by utilizing a rotatable, receptacle-like member having a generally solid wall, and commonly termed a bowl, for subjecting the material to centrifugal force. (1) Note. When the material is subjected to centrifugal force, the usual tendency is for the heavier component(s) (e.g., the "heavies") to move outwardly from the axis of rotation of the member and the lighter component(s) (e.g., the "lights") to move inwardly toward the axis. When plural heavier components of more than one density are present in the material, the outward movement ordinarily results in stratification, with the most dense component forming the layer nearest the wall, and so forth. When the heavier component, or one or more of a plurality thereof, is particulate in nature, the resulting layer, or layers, tends to be more or less solid. (2) Note. Most frequently, the member is capable of receiving and holding the material while at rest, and thus is truly a receptacle; in some instances (e.g., a member in the form of a open-ended cylinder), however, it can receive and hold material only when in its operating (i.e., rotating) mode. (3) Note. The use of the phrase "generally solid" to describe the wall of the member is not intended to infer that the wall behaves as anything other than an imperforate surface insofar as the separating function is concerned; rather, the purpose of the qualifying word is to acknowledge that there sometimes are one or more openings (e.g., discharge apertures) in the wall which serve a nonseparating function. See also Subclass References to the Current Class, below. |
Lines with other classes and within this classA centrifugal extractor, per se, for treating textiles is not in Class 494 if of the imperforate bowl type, inasmuch as the mixture involved is not one which this class (494) provides for. (See References to Other Classes, below.) If the extractor is perforate in nature, it may be proper for Class 210 (e.g., subclasses 360.1+). LINE WITH CLASS 196 AND WITH CLASS 208 While the treating of a nominally mentioned oil by merely subjecting it to the action of an imperforate bowl, centrifugal separator does not go beyond the scope of this class (494), the apparatus of Class 196 and the processes of Class 208, in References to Other Classes, below, involve more; for example, (a) apparatus, or process, respectively, pertaining to an additional, chemical treatment of the oil, or (b) specific properties (e.g., the composition) of the oil or of one or more of its components. |
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