TRANSPORT APPARATUS WITH VACUUM BELT
First Claim
1. An apparatus for transporting particles, the apparatus comprising:
- an endless conveyor belt having a plurality of perforations along its length, the apparatus being configured to enable application of a negative pressure to said perforations so as to aspirate the particles to said perforations, the conveyor belt being configured to transport the particles along a transport direction while they are aspirated to said perforations, thereby defining a movable transport surface, the movable transport surface extending in an essentially vertical plane, and the transport direction being inclined upwardly relative to a horizontal direction; and
a feeding device for feeding the particles to the conveyor belt in a feeding zone.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A transport apparatus comprises an endless vacuum conveyor belt (310) having a plurality of perforations (311). The conveyor belt transports the particles along a transport direction (T) while they are aspirated to the perforations, thereby defining a moving transport surface (316). The transport surface extends in an essentially vertical plane (x-z), and the transport direction (T) is inclined upwardly relative to the horizontal direction (x). An inclined recycling tray (200) recycles particles that have fallen from the conveyor belt back to a feeding zone (150) purely by the action of gravity. A separating wall (600) separates a processing zone from a clean zone of the apparatus. The conveyor belt interacts with an elongate vacuum box, which is open along one side, the open side being covered by an elongate slider. The slider has suction openings with a cross section that varies along the transport direction (T).
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. An apparatus for transporting particles, the apparatus comprising:
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an endless conveyor belt having a plurality of perforations along its length, the apparatus being configured to enable application of a negative pressure to said perforations so as to aspirate the particles to said perforations, the conveyor belt being configured to transport the particles along a transport direction while they are aspirated to said perforations, thereby defining a movable transport surface, the movable transport surface extending in an essentially vertical plane, and the transport direction being inclined upwardly relative to a horizontal direction; and a feeding device for feeding the particles to the conveyor belt in a feeding zone. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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8. An apparatus for transporting particles, comprising:
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an endless conveyor belt having a plurality of perforations along its length, the conveyor belt being configured to transport the particles along a transport direction while they are aspirated to said perforations; an elongate vacuum box extending along the transport direction, the vacuum box being open along one longitudinal side and being connectable to a source of negative pressure so as to apply a negative pressure to the vacuum box; and an elongate slider that covers said longitudinal side of the vacuum box, the slider being provided with a plurality of suction openings, the suction openings defining a free cross section that varies along the transport direction, wherein the first conveyor belt is slidably guided on said slider along the transport direction, so that the negative pressure in the vacuum box causes a negative pressure at said perforations of the conveyor belt, the negative pressure at the perforations being modulated along the transport direction according to the free cross section defined by the suction openings of the slider. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 17)
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Specification