Tool for transferring powdered material from one container to another

A tool with which fine pulverized material such as aluminum powder can be transferred into an open-topped container from a receptacle having a cover removably secured to a rim encircling its mouth, without creating an objectionably dusty environment, which comprises:

• A. a funnel of a size such that its large receiving end fits and is securable to the rim of the receptacle after its cover is removed;
• B. means at the discharge mouth of the funnel providing a closure that can be opened and closed;
• C. wall means fixedly secured to the funnel near its receiving end and projecting axially from its securement to the funnel towards and beyond the discharge end of the funnel in increasingly spaced relation to the funnel to form a skirt around the funnel, said skirt and funnel coacting to define a zone through which must pass the material leaving the receptacle and issuing from the funnel when the connected receptacle and funnel are inverted and the closure is opened;
• and
• E. means whereby a subatmospheric pressure can be maintained in said zone so that upon placement of the open-topped container in said zone beneath the funnel and opening of said closure, the container can be filled without raising a cloud of dust.