Pneumatic conveying apparatus
AssigneePneumatic Conveying, Inc.
InventorWayland E. Gillespie
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A pneumatic conveying apparatus, having a conveyor line path installed with a first valve and a second valve. An article is conveyed through the conveyor line path. The first and second valves are both open to a vacuum source to provide a sucking force to the article, so as to initiate conveying the article. After a flow of the article through the whole conveyor line path is established, the second valve is closed to form an air cushion at the terminal end of the conveyor line path. The terminal velocity of the article is thus reduced without causing any damage or breakage.
Claims16
A pneumatic conveying apparatus for pneumatic conveying a product, comprising:
- conduit, through which the product is conveyed;
- first valve installed on the conduit, the first valve being connected to a vacuum source and operative to initiate and maintain a flow of the product through the conduit;
- and
- second valve installed downstream to the first valve, the second valve being connected to the vacuum source and adjustable to decelerate the flow of the product to a substantially zero terminal velocity as the product exits the conduit.
A conveying apparatus, comprising:
- a first conduit, with a first end connected to a source containing a product to be conveyed;
- a second conduit wider than the first conduit, the second conduit having a first end connected to a second end of the first conduit;
- a first valve, installed at a joint between the first and second conduits and connected to a pressure source;
- a vessel, having a top end connected to a second end of the second conduit and a bottom end connected to a destination for receiving the product;
- and
- a second valve, installed on a top portion the vessel and connected to the pressure source, the second valve being adjustable to control a pressure supplied to the second end of the second conduit.
A method for pneumatically conveying a product through a conveying apparatus, comprising:
- applying a suction force to initiate a flow of the product through the conveying apparatus with an initial velocity high enough to prevent the product from falling out;
- and
- forming a pressure gradient at a terminal end before an exit of the conveying apparatus to decelerate the product to a terminal velocity.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.