Apparatus and methods for feeding a substantially uniform quantity of a mixture of materials having variable individual densities
AssigneeHydreclaim Corporation
InventorRichard W. Moller
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Apparatus and methods for mixing plastic materials having different densities to supply a substantially uniform quantity of the mixture of such materials to an extruder or other processing machine. The mixture of materials is fed forcibly from the mixer to the processing machine by a variable speed auger. The mixture exerts a reactive force on the auger commensurate with the bulk density of the mixture. A sensor detects variations in the reactive force and produces signals which adjust the rate of rotation of the auger in inverse relation to the variations in the bulk density of the mixture to maintain the quantity of the mixture discharged from the mixer per unit of time within a selected range.
Claims19
A method of regulating the rate of discharge of a mixture of virgin and scrap plastics materials having different densities in response to variations in the bulk density of such mixture, said method comprising delivering virgin plastic material to a mixer;
- delivering scrap plastic material to said mixer;
- mixing said virgin and scrap materials in said mixer to form a mixture of said materials having a bulk density;
- discharging the mixture of said materials from said mixer at a selected rate;
- sensing variations in bulk density of said mixture during the discharge of said mixture from said mixer;
- and adjusting the rate of discharge of said mixture in response to a selected variation in the bulk density of said mixture.
A continuous method of supplying a mixture of different density materials to a receiver comprising delivering materials having different densities from sources thereof to a mixer;
- mixing said materials in said mixer to produce a mixture of said materials having a bulk density value;
- applying on said mixture a driving force of such magnitude as to discharge a selected quantity of said mixture from said mixer per unit of time;
- sensing variations in the bulk density value of said mixture;
- and adjusting the rate of discharge of said mixture inversely to variations in the bulk density value of said mixture to maintain the selected quantity of discharged mixture.
Apparatus for mixing materials having different densities to obtain a mixture having a bulk density within a selected range, said apparatus comprising a mixer;
- means for delivering a plurality of materials of different densities from sources thereof to said mixer;
- means in said mixer for mixing said plurality of materials to form a mixture thereof;
- drivable feed means for applying a force on said mixture of such magnitude as to discharge said mixture from said mixer;
- variable speed drive means coupled to said feed means for driving said feed means at variable rates of speed;
- sensing means for sensing variations in the force applied on said mixture by said feed means;
- and control means coupling said sensing means and said drive means for varying the rate of speed of said feed means in response to predetermined variations in magnitude of said force to maintain the bulk density of the mixture discharged from said receiver within said selected range.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.