Air accelerator dosing tube

A dosing assembly for delivery of particulate material, comprising:

• a fixed member having an inlet, an outlet, and a passage extending between the inlet and the outlet, and an external surface;
• a movable member mounted to the fixed member, being axially displaceable relative to the fixed member, and including
• an internal surface substantially surrounding the external surface of the movable member, and cooperating with the internal surface of the fixed member to define a plenum chamber,
• an inlet in general alignment with the outlet of the fixed member,
• a discharge opening spaced from the inlet, and
• a second passage extending between the inlet and the discharge opening;
• an adjustment assembly for moving the movable member axially relative to the fixed member to adjust fluid communication between the plenum chamber and the second passage;
• and
• a retention device for substantially permanently fixing the relative positions of the movable member and the fixed member in a calibrated position.

A method of operating a pouching machine including the steps of:

• providing a plurality of air accelerator dosing tube assemblies, each operable to deliver a predetermined quantity of particulate material to a partially formed pouch;
• providing a metering assembly for delivering a predetermined quantity of particular material to the air accelerator dosing tube assemblies at predetermined time intervals;
• providing a controllable source of pressurized air;
• calibrating each air accelerator dosing tube assembly to generate a predetermined force at a predetermined distance from the air accelerator dosing tube assembly;
• and
• controlling the source of pressurized air such that simultaneously operating air accelerator dosing tube assemblies deliver a predetermined charge of particulate material to a partially formed pouch without structural degradation of the partially formed pouch and without preventing effective sealing of the filled, partially formed pouch.

A method of controlling feed of material uniformly across a bank of feed lanes of a pouch forming and filling machine, comprising the steps of:

• establishing an adjustable air accelerator at a location along each feed lane;
• calibrating each adjustable air accelerator to a common calibrating parameter and securing each air accelerator in a common calibrated condition;
• and
• controlling an operating pressure of each air accelerator with a common regulator.