Method and apparatus for determining the thickness of a charge wall formed in a centrifugal basket

In a centrifugal apparatus including a rotary centrifugal basket and means for delivering a flow of charge material into the basket while the basket is rotated to form a charge wall against the side wall of the basket in a charge space;

• the improvement including means for determining the thickness of the charge wall comprising capacitor means for establishing a capacitance across the charge space of the basket, said capacitor means including two spaced capacitor plates one of which is spaced inwardly of said charge space, and means for sensing a change of said capacitance resulting as the inner surface of said charge wall approaches said one plate during the formation and consequent increase in thickness of said charge wall in the charge space within the basket.

In centrifugal apparatus including a rotary centrifugal basket, a loading gate, and gate operating means for moving said gate between fully open and closed positions thereof to control a flow of charge material and for delivering said flow of charge material into the basket while the basket is rotating to thereby form a charge wall against the side wall of the basket;

• the improvement including means for determining the thickness of the charge wall comprising means for establishing a capacitance across the charge space of the basket;
• means for sensing a change of said capacitance resulting from the formation of a charge wall in the basket;
• and means for curtailing said flow in response to a change of said capacitance sensed by said sensing means, said curtailing means including means responsive to the sensing by said sensing means of a certain value of said capacitance, corresponding to a desired maximum thickness of said charge wall, for activating said gate operating means to move said gate to said closed position.