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US 4,400,086 AGranted
Instrument for grinding and analyzing material in ground state
AssigneePacific Scientific Instruments Company
InventorDonald R. Webster
Life of this patent
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AssigneePacific Scientific Instruments Company
InventorDonald R. Webster
Estimating the term…
In an instrument for optically measuring the constituents of grain samples, a grinder is provided to grind a sample of grain and direct the ground grain into a chute. A hopper is provided for loading the grain into the grinder with a gate for controlling the flow of the grain into the grinder. A filter wheel and infrared light source assembly directs a beam of infrared light on the grain sample in the chute while continuously changing the wavelength irradiating the grain. As the infrared light is irradiating grain, the grain is moved in a bed through the infrared light and reflectivity measurements are made. From these reflectivity measurements, the oil, water and protein content of the grain sample is determined.
An analyzing instrument for analyzing grindable samples comprising a grinder for grinding said samples, a chute positioned to receive samples ground by said grinder, an impeller at the bottom of said chute for removing ground sample material from said chute, said chute having a window therein, measuring means to make optical measurements on the sample in said chute through said window while said impeller is removing the ground sample material from said chute, the interior walls of said chute being shaped so that there are no ledges in said chute facing in the opposite direction of the flow of ground sample material through said chute.
An analyzing instrument for analyzing grindable samples comprising a grinder for grinding said samples, a chute positioned to receive samples ground by said grinder, an impeller at the bottom of said chute for removing ground sample material from said chute, said chute having a window therein, measuring means to make optical measurements on the sample in said chute through said window while said impeller is removing the ground sample material from said chute, standard positioning means for positioning an optical standard in a first position for said measuring means to make said optical measurements on said optical standard and in a second position in which said measuring means makes said optical measurements on the ground sample in said chute, said measuring means including means to calibrate said measuring means in response to the optical measurements made on said optical standard, and means responsive to the movement of said standard positioning means from its first position to its second position to energize said grinder and then after a predetermined delay to actuate said impeller to remove ground sample material from said chute.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.