Hot melt dispensing apparatus and method

In a system for dispensing hot melt material from a container, an integrally fabricated heater-follower plate comprising:

• a plate having a top surface and a bottom surface;
• an aperture cut through said plate at approximately the center of said plate;
• a plurality of grooves cut into the edge of said plate around its entire periphery;
• a plurality of wipers equal in number to said plurality of grooves, a different one of said plurality of wipers being secured in each one of said plurality of grooves;
• a plurality of spiral grooves cut into said bottom surface of said plate;
• and
• a plurality of heating wires, a different one of said plurality of heating

In a system for dispensing hot melt material from a container, an integrally fabricated heater-follower plate comprising:

• a plate having a top surface and a bottom surface;
• an aperture cut through said plate at approximately the center of said plate;
• a plurality of grooves cut into the edge of said plate around its entire periphery;
• a plurality of wipers equal in number to said plurality of grooves, a different one of said plurality of wipers being secured in each one of said plurality of grooves;
• a plurality of holes cut into said top surface of said plate toward said bottom surface of said plate but not through said bottom surface of said plate;
• and
• a plurality of cartridge heaters equal in number to said plurality of holes cut into said top surface of said plate, a different one of said cartridge heaters being inserted into each one of said plurality of holes cut into

A method for dispensing material from a container comprising the steps of:

• a. placing a follower plate into a container that contains a material that is to be dispensed and on top of said material;
• b. pumping said material out of said container through said follower plate;
• c. pumping said material pumped out of said container through a de-aerator;
• d. accumulating a given amount of said material in said reservoir;
• and
• e. pumping said material out of said reservoir at a given rate while at the same time pumping material through said de-aerator at a different rate

A method for dispensing a hot melt material stored in a container comprising the steps of:

• a. placing an integrally fabricated heater-follower plate into a container which contains a hot melt material that is to be dispensed and on top of said hot melt material;
• b. applying heat to said hot melt material in said container;
• c. pumping said heated hot melt material out of said container through said heater-follower plate, through a de-aerator into a reservoir;
• d. accumulating a given amount of said heated hot melt material in said reservoir;
• e. applying heat to said material accumulated in said reservoir;
• f. pumping said material out of said reservoir through a hose while at the same time pumping said heated hot melt material from said container through said de-aerator into said reservoir;
• and
• g. applying heat to said hose.