Apparatus for spraying liquids such as resins and waxes on surfaces of particles

A blender used to effectively apply finely dispersed liquid droplets of resins and/or waxes, through surfaces of particles, comprising:

• (a) a hollow drum rotatably supported on a frame for rotation about a downwardly inclined axis and having nonrotatable ends;
• (b) a variable speed drive assembly to rotate the hollow drum at selectable optimum speeds to produce along its upwardly moving inner wall a thin layer of particles which leave and fall from the inner wall a small distance before reaching the uppermost peripheral point of travel to produce a free falling cascade of particles which is sufficiently dense to form an impervious curtain spaced from the downwardly moving inner wall of the hollow drum;
• (c) a particle receiving assembly at the higher end of the rotatable drum;
• (d) a particle discharging assembly at the other end of the drum;
• (e) hollow nonrotatable cantilevered shafts positioned longitudinally within the hollow drum and extending from each end thereof;
• (f) spray disc sprayers rotatably mounted respectively on the ends of the cantilevered shafts inside the hollow drum;
• (g) power assemblies mounted respectively on the ends of the cantilevered shafts to rotate the respective spray disc sprayers to create spraying gravity forces of one thousand;
• and
• (h) a liquid supply assembly connected to the shaft for delivering liquid to the spray disc sprayers, while the particles are being delivered and removed from the hollow rotating drum.

A blender used to effectively apply finely dispersed liquid droplets of resins and/or waxes, throughout surfaces of particles, comprising:

• a. a hollow drum having an inlet end and an outlet end and which is rotatably supported on a frame and downwardly inclined at a small angle to the horizontal from its higher inlet end;
• b. a variable speed drive assembly to rotate the hollow drum at selectable optimum speeds to produce along its upwardly moving inner wall a thin layer of particles which leave and fall from the inner wall a small distance before reaching the uppermost peripheral point of travel to produce a free falling cascade of particles which is sufficiently dense to form an impervious curtain spaced from the downwardly moving inner wall of the hollow drum;
• c. a particle receiving assembly at the inlet end of the rotatable hollow drum;
• d. a particle discharging assembly at the outlet end of the hollow drum;
• e. at least one cantilevered shaft extending longitudinally into the drum from an end of the drum;
• f. at least one spray disc sprayer oriented angularly with respect to the drum axis and mounted on the end of the cantilevered shaft above and offset from the longitudinal axis of the drum;
• g. a power assembly mounted on the end of the cantilevered shaft to operate said at least one spray disc sprayer such that spray is disposed in a full circular arc to simultaneously strike and impinge on both the thin layer and the dense cascade of particles without passing therethrough to the inner wall;
• h. a liquid supply assembly connected to said at least one spray disc sprayer for delivering liquid thereto while the particles are being delivered to and removed from the rotating hollow drum;
• i. said frame including an adjustable frame for rotatably supporting said hollow drum at selective angles from a horizontal axis;
• j. said power assembly being secured to the cantilevered shaft which does not rotate and the power assembly directly drives said at least one spray disc sprayer;
• k. said liquid supply assembly adapted for delivering the liquid to a side of said at least one spray disc sprayer;
• l. said at least one spray disc sprayer including paired disc sprayers arranged with a space between the paired discs being wide enough so that departing sprays of droplets will not converge;
• and
• m. each spray disc sprayer is pivotably mounted on the cantilevered shaft for directing liquid sprays in transverse planes at angles with respect to the cantilevered shaft.

A blender used to effectively apply finely dispersed liquid droplets of resins and/or waxes, throughout surfaces of particles, comprising:

• a. a hollow drum rotatably supported on a frame for rotation about a downwardly inclined axis and having non-rotatable ends;
• b. a variable speed drive assembly to rotate the hollow drum at selectable optimum speed to produce along its upwardly moving inner wall a thin layer of particles which leave and fall from the inner wall a small distance before reaching the uppermost peripherial point of travel to produce a free falling cascade of particles which is sufficiently densed to form an impervious curtain spaced from the downwardly moving inner wall of the hollow drums;
• c. a particle receiving assembly at the higher end of the rotatable drums;
• d. a particle discharging assembly of the other end of the drum;
• e. hollow non-rotatable cantilevered shafts positioned longitudinally within the hollow drum and extending from each end thereof;
• f. spray disc sprayers rotatably mounted respectively on the ends of the cantilevered shafts inside the hollow drum;
• g. power assemblies mounted respectively on the ends of the cantilevered shafts to rotate the respective spray disc sprayers to create spraying gravity forces of 1,000;
• h. a liquid supply assembly connected to the shaft for delivering liquid to the spray disc sprayers while the particles are being delivered and removed from the hollow non-rotatable drum;
• i. said frame being adjustable and adapted to rotatably support the hollow drum at selective angles from a horizontal axis;
• j. said liquid supply assembly delivers the liquid to the sides of the spray disc sprayers;
• k. said spray disc sprayers being arranged as paired disc sprayers with a space between the paired discs wide enough so that the departing sprays of droplets will not converge;
• l. said spray disc sprayers being pivotably mounted on the cantilevered shafts to direct liquid sprays in transverse planes at angles with respect to the cantilevered shafts;
• m. said liquid supply system adapted for supplying two different liquids, delivering one liquid to the spray disc sprayer on one cantilevered shaft and another liquid to the spray disc sprayer on the other cantilevered shaft;
• n. said cantilevered shafts on which the spray disc sprayers are mounted are positioned within one upper transverse quadrant of the hollow drum;
• o. said hollow drum includes means to selectively reduce the peripheral speed at the interior surface of the drum at selective longitudinal places along the drum, to compensate for the increasing co-efficient of friction as the particles gain more resin making their surfaces increasingly tackier, thereby maintaining cascading of the particles;
• p. said drive assembly adapted for rotating the hollow drum in one direction and the power assemblies adapted for rotating the spray disc sprayers in the opposite direction;
• and,
• q. said cantilevered shaft on which the spray disc sprayers are mounted are positioned within the upper transverse quadrant of the hollow drum in which the raising of the particles is undertaken, and the hollow drum is rotated at a selective angle relative to the horizontal plane and at selected speed to create a selected number of cycles, wherein in each cycle, the particles are lifted along the interior surface of the hollow drum to an upper zenith locale within the hollow drum, where the gravitational force becomes effective to cause the particles to freely fall in an arcuate cascade down to the interior surface of the hollow drum.