Apparatus for containing easily solidifying powder and particles

An apparatus for containing easily solidifying powder and particles, comprising:

• a casing having a capacity for containing a desired amount of easily solidifying powder and particles and having a discharge opening in the bottom thereof for discharging powder and particles therethrough;
• a discharge conveyor in the bottom of the casing and extending substantially horizontally from one end of the casing to the other along the middle of said casing for transferring powder and particles from one end to the other of the bottom of the casing, the discharge end of said discharge conveyor being communicated with said discharge opening;
• a plurality of horizontally extending crusher shafts each extending substantially the full length of said casing and having a plurality of claws on the circumferential surface thereof and said shafts being positioned in a vertical plane directly above the discharge conveyor in the middle of said casing for engaging all of a vertically extending face of powder and particles extending substantially vertically from the discharge conveyor in a flat plane to a level corresponding to the level of the top of the body of powder and particles normally contained in the casing, and drive means connected to said shafts for rotating said shafts for clawing powder and particles from the face of the powder and particles to permit powder and particles to fall downward to said discharge conveyor;
• said casing having side walls spaced outwardly from said crusher shafts a distance substantially greater than the diameter of said crusher shafts and having a bottom surface inclined downwardly to said discharge conveyor from the opposite sides of said casing, the angle of inclination being sufficient to cause the powder and particles to slide downwardly and inwardly toward said crusher shafts and said discharge conveyor due to their own weight, whereby powder and particles which fall down to said discharge conveyor are transferred by said discharge conveyor to the outside of said casing and the powder and particles left in said casing above said discharge conveyor slide on the bottom surface of said casing toward said crusher shafts and are pressed against said crusher shafts from the opposite sides of said vertical plane to balance the force of the powder and particles on said crusher shafts, the powder and particles in said casting being successively acted on by said crusher shafts and by said discharge conveyor and are discharged by said discharge conveyor to the outside of said casing.