Dry granular material feeder and use thereof
AssigneeActive Minerals International, LLC
InventorsRyan W. ERNEST, JR., Ronald J. BELL, Paul FENDLEY, Steven B. FELDMAN, Rudolph COETZEE, Dennis C. PARKER, Robert J. PURCELL
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus and methods for feeding granular material are described, in the form of a frame with a leveler, a controller, and a feeder. The feeder includes a hopper, an enclosure with an outlet, a drive assembly electrically connected to the controller, and a rotatable member in communication with the drive assembly and configured to rotate within the enclosure to control a rate of flow of granular material from the hopper through the outlet.
Claims20
An apparatus for feeding granular material, comprising:
- a frame comprising a leveler configured to control a horizontal orientation of the frame;
- a controller;
- and
- a feeder secured to the frame, the feeder comprising:
- a hopper;
- an enclosure comprising an outlet;
- a drive assembly electrically connected to the controller;
- and
- a rotatable member in communication with the drive assembly and configured to rotate within the enclosure to control a rate of flow of the granular material from the hopper through the outlet.
A method of dispensing granular material, comprising:
- receiving, by a feeder comprising a hopper and secured to a frame, granular material from the hopper;
- rotating, by a drive assembly, a rotatable member within a enclosure of the feeder to control a rate of flow of the granular material from the hopper;
- outputting the granular material through an outlet in the enclosure;
- and
- controlling a horizontal orientation of the frame by adjusting a leveler.
A method of controlling the dosage of an additive to a granular composition, comprising:
- positioning a feeding apparatus over an intermediate composition conveyer;
- and
- adjusting, by a user of the feeding apparatus, a rate of flow of the additive from a feeding apparatus outlet into the granular composition, wherein the feeding apparatus comprises:
- a frame;
- a controller configured to receive user inputs;
- and
- a feeder secured to the frame, the feeder configured to control a rate of flow of the additive from a hopper through the outlet in response to the user inputs.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.