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US 2006/0042703 A1Published application
Variable discharge sludge distributor
AssigneeHydro Engineering, Inc.
InventorThomas Huffman
Life of this patent
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AssigneeHydro Engineering, Inc.
InventorThomas Huffman
Estimating the term…
Devices and methods for evenly distributing sludge, including manure and industrial sludge, to numerous hoses, over a large range of sludge supply pressures. Some devices include a housing having an inlet for receiving sludge under pressure and several outlets disposed outwardly through the housing cylindrical wall for coupling to hoses. The devices can include a rotating plate within the housing sweeping one or more baffles over the outlets to momentarily occlude the outlets and reduce flow through the occluded outlets. The baffles can include a first portion secured to the plate and a second portion removably secured to the first portion and/or the plate. Changing the total length of the baffles can change the affective cross-sectional area of the outlets available for flow at any instant in time. Increased sludge supply pressure may call for installing smaller sized baffles to reduce back pressure, while decreased sludge supply pressure may call for installing larger sized baffles to maintain sufficient back pressure to insure even flow. Even manure distribution onto fields over different pressure ranges can be provided.
A sludge distributor having a center rotational axis, the distributor comprising:
A sludge distributor having a central rotational axis therethrough and a longitudinal plane orthogonal to the axis, the distributor comprising:
A method for varying the effective number of orifices open at any one time in a sludge distributor, the distributor including a housing having an interior wall and having a plurality of hose outlets disposed circumferentially about the housing and at least one first baffle having a first arcuate length and configured to travel about the housing interior near the housing interior walls and blocking flow through at least one of the outlets at any one time, the method comprising replacing the first baffle with a second baffle having a second arcuate length that is different from the first arcuate length.
A method for reducing the effective number of orifices open at any one time in a sludge distributor, the distributor including a housing having a center axis, a sludge inlet, an interior wall, and having a plurality of hose outlets disposed circumferentially about the housing through the wall and at least one first baffle having a first length and configured to travel about the housing interior near the housing interior wall, the method comprising circulating the baffle about the center axis near the interior wall past the outlets to block sludge flow through at least one of the outlets at any one time.
A method for distributing sludge, the method comprising:
A sludge distributor having a central rotational axis therethrough and a longitudinal plane orthogonal to the axis, the distributor comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.