Multiple-choke apparatus for transporting and metering particulate material
AssigneeStamet, Inc.
InventorDonald Firth
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A multiple-choke unit for transporting and metering particulate material under ambient conditions wherein the material is compacted to bridging and then disturbed as it is friction driven through a duct. The duct has two opposed walls moving between the inlet and outlet which have a surface area that is larger than the surface area of a stationary wall or walls which form the other part of the duct. The duct includes a plurality of chokes which bridge by compaction and disturb the material as it is friction-driven through the unit. The unit provides simultaneous transport and metering of particulate material. The unit is used to transport particulate material under atmospheric conditions.
Claims14
An apparatus for transporting particulate material under ambient conditions comprising:
- a housing having an inlet, an outlet and a duct between said inlet and outlet, said duct being formed between two opposed friction drive walls movable relative to said housing from said inlet towards said outlet and one or more stationary walls fixed relative to said pump housing with respect to movement between said inlet and said outlet, said friction drive walls having a greater surface area for contacting said material than said stationary walls;
- first choke means for compacting to bridge said particulate material after introduction into said inlet, said first choke means including a convergence of said friction drive walls and said stationary walls to provide a first portion of said duct having a cross-sectional area which is less than the cross-sectional area of said inlet;
- second choke means for disturbing the relationship of said particulate material after said particulate material passes through said first choke means said second choke means including a divergence of said friction drive walls and said stationary walls to provide a second portion of said duct having a cross-sectional area which is greater than the cross-sectional area of said first portion of said duct, but less than the cross-sectional area of said inlet.
A process for transporting particulate material comprising the steps of:
- feeding particulate material into an inlet end of a duct formed between two opposed friction drive walls and a stationary wall or walls, said friction drive walls having a greater surface area for contacting said particulate material than said stationary walls;
- moving said friction drive walls toward an outlet end of said duct;
- compacting said particulate material in a first portion of said duct by converging said stationary walls with respect to said friction drive walls to form bridged particulate material in said duct;
- disturbing the relationship of the particulate material by diverging said stationary walls with respect to said friction drive walls in a second portion of said duct to form disturbed particulate material.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.