Feeder
AssigneeREC Silicon Inc
InventorRobert J. Geertsen
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A feeder operable to convey a divided solids material comprises a conduit and an actuator. The conduit has a hollow body with a length, a first end, a second end opposite the first end and a displaceable body segment defined along at least a portion of the length. The displaceable body segment has at least a first fixable location positionable at a first fixed location. The actuator is positioned to apply force to the conduit and is controllable to cause selected flow of divided solids material in a feed direction extending generally from the first end to the second end. Methods are also disclosed.
Claims26
A feeder operable to convey a divided solids material, comprising:
- a conduit having a hollow body with a length, a first end, a second end opposite the first end and a displaceable body segment defined along at least a portion of the length;
- the displaceable body segment having at least a first fixable location positionable at a first fixed location;
- an actuator positioned to apply force to the conduit and controllable to displace the displaceable body segment to cause selected flow of divided solids material within the conduit in a feed direction extending generally from the first end to the second end.
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A feeder, comprising:
- a conduit having an inlet end, an outlet end opposite the inlet end and a displaceable body segment defined along a feeding direction between the inlet end and the outlet end;
- the inlet end being configured for connection to a source of material to be fed by the feeder;
- the outlet end being configured to convey divided solids material from the feeder to a location downstream of the feeder, wherein the outlet end is configured for positioning at a lower height than the inlet end;
- the displaceable body segment being sized to have a length longer than a shortest distance between the inlet end and the outlet end and to define a curved profile with at least one inflection point when installed;
- the displaceable body segment when installed defining an intermediate section configured to support accumulated divided solids material therein at an angle of repose of the material, and to reduce movement of material in the feeding direction when the displaceable body segment is at rest;
- and
- an actuator connected to the displaceable body segment to controllably displace the displaceable body segment during a feeding operation.
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A method of conveying a divided solids material with a feeder, comprising:
- using a sensor to monitor an amount of the divided solids material being conveyed with the feeder;
- receiving signals from the sensor at a controller;
- sending control signals from the controller to the feeder to control a flow rate of the divided solids material over a flow rate range ratio of greater than 1:50 of a low flow rate to a high flow rate.
A method of conveying divided polysilicon, comprising:
- receiving divided polysilicon from a source into a conduit of a feeder;
- controllably moving the conduit through an operation path in which the conduit is positioned in at least a first position at which flow through the conduit occurs and a second position at which flow through the conduit is stopped;
- and
- receiving the divided silicon material flowing through the conduit, when the conduit is positioned at least in a first position, in a receptacle positioned downstream of an outlet end of the conduit.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.