Air Cannon and Sonic Horn Combination for Dislodging Accumulated Bulk Material
AssigneeMartin Engineering Company
InventorsJoel Nash, Jefferson Landers Shelton, Jefferson Logan Shelton, Joe Kennedy
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A combination air cannon and sonic horn for dislodging accumulated bulk material comprises an air cannon, a sonic horn, and a shared portion. The air cannon is configured to store pressurized gas and to periodically abruptly discharge the pressurized gas through a gas outlet. The sonic horn is configured to generate sound waves that that are emitted from the gas outlet. The outlet is formed on a nozzle having a unique configuration. The outlet can be oriented such that blasts of air from the air cannon pass over the accumulated bulk material and lift the bulk material into suspension via Bernoulli's law.
Claims15
A combination air cannon and sonic horn for dislodging accumulated bulk material, the apparatus comprising:
- an air cannon having a pressure vessel operatively connected to a discharge passageway, the pressure vessel being configured and adapted to store pressurized gas and to abruptly discharge the pressurized gas into and through the discharge passageway;
- a sonic horn having a sound generator operatively connected to a sound passageway, the sound generator being configured and adapted to generate sound waves that travel from the sound generator and through the sound passageway;
- and
- a shared portion having a gas outlet and a gas passageway, the gas passageway being configured and adapted to fluidly connect the gas outlet to the discharge passageway and to the sound passageway in a manner such that the sound waves and the pressurized gas can be discharged from the combination air cannon and sonic horn via the gas outlet.
A method of dislodging accumulated bulk material particles at rest on a surface, the method comprising:
- abruptly discharging stored pressurized gas from an air cannon out of a gas outlet, the outlet being elongate in a generally horizontal direction, the gas being discharged from the outlet in a direction intentionally aimed above the bulk material particles, the discharged gas causing an updraft of other gas to lift the particles of bulk material accumulated on the surface into suspension within the discharged gas and other gas.
A sonic horn for dislodging accumulated bulk material, the sonic horn comprising:
- a sound generator operatively connected to a sound outlet, the sound generator being configured and adapted to generate sound waves and to emit the sound waves out of the sound outlet, the sound outlet being elongate in an elongate direction, the sound outlet being operatively connected to a gas passageway that extends upstream from the sound outlet, the gas passageway diverges in a direction perpendicular to the elongate direction as it extends upstream from the sound outlet.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.