Feeding granular material into a gas stream
First Claim
1. Apparatus for feeding granular material in a gas stream comprising:
- a receptacle for granular material;
a plurality of ducts for constraining respective gas streams;
a pair of resiliently compressible movable surfaces which contact or almost contact to define a nip between them, the surfaces being so disposed that granular material may fall from the nip into said ducts through respective ports in the ducts and being movable into the nip from above;
metering means defining an array of controllable discrete openings from said receptacle and being positioned above said nip and lying adjacent one of said surfaces and displaced along said surface from the nip for feeding granular material into said nip at a controlled rate, and (means for controlling said openings by) a shutter mounted for sliding movement with a respect to said openings for simultaneously varying their effective size, and control means to effect said movement of the shutter; and
means adjacent the metering means formed with a plurality of slots;
wherein said openings, slots and ports are in vertical register so as to define flow paths for respective streams of granular material.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Apparatus for feeding granular material into a gas stream, for example seed or fertilizer into multiple airstreams of an agricultural vehicle, includes a receptacle for granular material, a duct for a gas stream, and a pair of resiliently compressible surfaces which contact or almost contact to define a nip between them. The surfaces may be provided by contrarotatable rollers and are disposed so that granular material may pass from one side of the nip through a port into the duct, and are moveable into the nip from the other side. The apparatus further includes metering means defining a controllable outlet from the receptacle and positioned with respect to the nip for feeding granular material into the nip from said other side at an adjustable controlled rate. Also disclosed is a distributor for gas-entrained granular material which includes a conical, part-conical or inverted conical surface in a diverging housing.
66 Citations
22 Claims
-
1. Apparatus for feeding granular material in a gas stream comprising:
-
a receptacle for granular material; a plurality of ducts for constraining respective gas streams; a pair of resiliently compressible movable surfaces which contact or almost contact to define a nip between them, the surfaces being so disposed that granular material may fall from the nip into said ducts through respective ports in the ducts and being movable into the nip from above; metering means defining an array of controllable discrete openings from said receptacle and being positioned above said nip and lying adjacent one of said surfaces and displaced along said surface from the nip for feeding granular material into said nip at a controlled rate, and (means for controlling said openings by) a shutter mounted for sliding movement with a respect to said openings for simultaneously varying their effective size, and control means to effect said movement of the shutter; and
means adjacent the metering means formed with a plurality of slots;wherein said openings, slots and ports are in vertical register so as to define flow paths for respective streams of granular material. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
-
Specification