Drying hopper

A drying hopper for conditioning plastic resin pellets prior to use in molding or extruding processes;

• said hopper having side, top, and bottom walls with clean, smooth interior surfaces, and a lower side-bottom wall section in an inverted frusto-conical configuration with an open upper end and an open reduced diameter lower end for discharging pellets, the pellets being introduced to the hopper through a suitable opening at an upper portion thereof, an inverted frusto-conical air diffuser having perforate side walls for the discharge of air therethrough, said diffuser also having a top wall with an entry opening for the introduction of heated air under pressure to its interior, an air supply conduit connected with said entry opening and with a source of heated drying air under pressure, an inverted frusto-conical perforated basket disposed in the hopper between and in spaced relationship with the lower frusto-conical hopper section and the frusto-conical diffuser side-wall, said basket also being perforated and defining in cooperation with the diffuser an inverted frusto-conical annular passageway for uniform drying of the pellets in their downward movement through the annular passageway, pellets in movement through the passageway being subjected to a substantially continuous high speed through flow of heating and drying air from the diffuser across the pellets in the passageway and thence through the basket to a space between the basket and the hopper lower section.