Wurster air diverter
AssigneeVector Corporation
InventorBrian K. Jensen
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The improved Wurster of the present invention includes an air diverter which supplies a flow of air in a radial direction adjacent the spray nozzle body and spray nozzle, so as to force the product away from the nozzle during the spraying process. The air diverter includes a sleeve with air passages therein, a manifold connected to the sleeve and to a source of secondary pressurized air or gas, and a collar to mount the assembled air diverter onto the perforated plate of the Wurster apparatus. In operation, the air diverter allows the spray pattern from the nozzle to more fully develop, allows more complete atomization of the spray solution, and allows for higher spray rates with little or no agglomeration of the product.
Claims12
An improved Wurster apparatus for coating a product, including a container with a partition therein defining an upbed area and a downbed area, a perforated plate beneath the container, a primary air source for providing air flow through the perforated plate into the container, such that the product moves in a circuitous path upwardly in the upbed area and downwardly in the downbed area, and a spray nozzlebody extending into the upbed area of the container with a spray nozzle for spraying a coating solution onto the product in the upbed area, the improvement comprising:
- an air diverter in the upbed area having a plurality of holes directed away from the spray nozzle;
- and
- a pressurized air or gas line operatively connected to the air diverter to force air radially outwardly through the holes adjacent the spray nozzle body to move the product away from the spray nozzle.
An improved Wurster apparatus for coating particulate material with a spray solution from a spray nozzle in an upbed area, the improvement comprising:
- an air diverter having a plurality of holes angled away from the spray nozzle for directing air away from the nozzle so as to direct the material away from the nozzle as the material enters the upbed area.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.