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US 5,735,319 AGranted
Dispersing apparatus and method
OwnerJohn O. McNamara, John Patrick McNamarainventors
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OwnerJohn O. McNamara, John Patrick McNamarainventors
Estimating the term…
A dispersing apparatus (10, 110, 210) uniformly disperses a stream of material pieces, such as wood chips, into a storage area (84) from an overhead feeding channel in order to achieve efficient and compact accumulation of the material pieces in the storage area (84). The dispersing apparatus (10, 110, 210) is detachably mounted to the feeding channel and has an impeller (18, 118) with a plurality of impeller blades (22a-22d; 122a-122d) for rotating through the stream of wood chips for transversely engaging the same. As a result, the wood chips are propelled outwardly from the feeding channel and uniformly toward the storage area (84). A first impeller (18) is shaped in the form of a cone configuration and is utilized to project material pieces outwardly and downwardly from the feeding channel. A second impeller (118) has a dish (128) with a concave deflection surface (132) for directing the material pieces outwardly and upwardly from the feeding channel. A directional deflection mechanism (212) having a deflector shield (214) may be implemented on the dispersing apparatus (10, 110, 210) in order to selectively direct the distribution of wood chips into the storage area (84).
A dispersing apparatus for uniformly dispersing a stream of particulate material pieces into a storage area from a supply outlet in order to achieve efficient and compact accumulation of the material pieces in the area, the dispersing apparatus is configured to be disposed substantially adjacent said supply outlet and comprising a single converging spout and an impeller operatively connected to the spout, via a bearing housing, including a plurality of impeller blades disposed remote from said spout for rotating through said stream for transversely engaging and thereby propelling said material pieces outwardly from said supply outlet and toward said area, wherein the impeller is driven by a motor disposed adjacent said spout and a belt connecting said motor to said bearing housing and wherein the spout is arranged such that it provides a passage for said particulate material pieces with no obstruction by objects so as to allow said material to be delivered unfettered to the impellers and storage area.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.