Indexing powder dispensing device

A powder ejecting device comprising, a housing having a powder inlet and powder outlet means, a powder reservoir carried within a section of said housing, an elongated shaft having an upper section rotatably mounted within said reservoir and a lower section extending beyond said reservoir, a flexible rotor wheel fixed to said upper section of said shaft, said flexible rotor wheel having a plurality of spaced apart powder metering chambers annularly fixed thereto, an indexing means for intermittently moving said shaft, ejecting means for forcing said powder from said powder metering chambers outwardly through said powder outlet means, and a reciprocatively mounted powder outlet means capable of moving against one end of said powder metering chamber and forcing same such that the other end of said powder metering chamber will seal against said ejecting means.

A powder ejecting device comprising, a housing having a powder inlet and powder outlet means, a powder reservoir carried within a section of said housing, an elongated shaft having an upper section rotatably mounted within said reservoir and a lower section extending beyond said reservoir, a flexible rotor wheel fixed to said upper section of said shaft, said flexible rotor wheel having a plurality of spaced apart powder metering chambers annularly fixed thereto, an indexing means for intermittently moving said shaft, and ejecting means for forcing said powder from said powder metering chambers outwardly through said powder outlet means, wherein said indexing means includes a wheel member fixed to said lower section of said shaft, said wheel member having a plurality of spaced apart openings bored annularly about said wheel member, a cylindrical pin loosely carried within each of said openings, a sectored drive gear loosely held about said lower section of said shaft, a means for urging each of said cylindrical pins into engagement with an edge of said sectored drive gear and moving means for intermittently moving said sectored drive gear while said pin is in engagement therewith.

A method for ejecting reproducible quanta of powder through a powder outlet comprising the steps of moving a powder metering chamber which is open at opposite ends and is carried by flexible mounting means through a reservoir filled with powder, whereby to fill said powder metering chamber with powder;

• aligning said powder metering chamber between a reciprocatively mounted powder outlet and a pressurized gas outlet;
• forcing said powder outlet against one open end of said powder metering chamber, causing the mounting means carrying said powder metering chamber to flex so that the other open end of said powder metering chamber sealably engages said pressurized gas outlet;
• and introducing a pulse of pressurized gas into said gas outlet whereby said pulse of pressurized gas forces the powder contained within the powder reservoir outwardly through the reciprocatively mounted powder outlet.