Pneumatic conveying device and flap valve
First Claim
1. In combination with a screw conveyor including a housing having an inlet at one end and an outlet coaxial with the housing at the other end and a screw impeller including a shaft extending through the outlet and a helical flight for advancing material from the inlet to the outlet through the housing when the screw impeller is rotated, an improved valve for closing the outlet of the housing comprising a valve element for sealing against the housing including an opening therethrough having a diameter larger than the diameter of said shaft;
- said valve element having a first portion which defines a first half of said opening and a second portion which defines a second half of said opening;
said first half being longitudinally spaced from said second half toward the inlet of the housing; and
means for pivotally mounting said valve element for movement relative to said housing and said shaft to permit said outlet to be opened.
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A conveying apparatus includes a casing having a bore therethrough with an inlet for solid particulate material to be conveyed and an outlet. A screw impeller is rotatably mounted in the casing by front and rear bearings with the rear bearings being positioned near the inlet. Material is discharged from the casing through a coaxial outlet into a discharge chamber. Gaseous fluid under pressure is supplied to the discharge chamber for entraining and conveying the particulate material through a pneumatic conveying line which is flow connected to the outlet of the discharge chamber. A valve, which closes the outlet of the casing, is biased closed by a weight and opened by material being advanced by the screw impeller. The valve includes a valve plate with an opening which surrounds the shaft of the screw impeller and provides a seal at the casing to substantially prevent gaseous fluid from entering the casing. The valve plate is shaped so that it includes a first portion which defines half of the opening through the valve element and a second portion which defines the other half of the opening. The first portion is longitudinally spaced from the second portion so that when the valve pivots from a closed position to an open position, the edges of the opening adjacent the shaft will pivot away from the shaft at least during the initial stages opening valve.
17 Citations
20 Claims
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1. In combination with a screw conveyor including a housing having an inlet at one end and an outlet coaxial with the housing at the other end and a screw impeller including a shaft extending through the outlet and a helical flight for advancing material from the inlet to the outlet through the housing when the screw impeller is rotated, an improved valve for closing the outlet of the housing comprising a valve element for sealing against the housing including an opening therethrough having a diameter larger than the diameter of said shaft;
- said valve element having a first portion which defines a first half of said opening and a second portion which defines a second half of said opening;
said first half being longitudinally spaced from said second half toward the inlet of the housing; and
means for pivotally mounting said valve element for movement relative to said housing and said shaft to permit said outlet to be opened. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
- said valve element having a first portion which defines a first half of said opening and a second portion which defines a second half of said opening;
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7. In an apparatus for conveying solid particulate material including a casing having a bore therethrough, an inlet for solid particulate material to be conveyed and an outlet coaxial with one end of the bore for discharging solid particulate material;
- a screw impeller having a shaft mounted in said bore in the casing for advancing solid particulate material from said inlet to said outlet;
a pair of bearing means, each operatively connected to a respective end of the casing for rotatably mounting said screw impeller in said casing;
a discharge chamber flow connected with the outlet of the casing for receiving solid particulate material from the casing having an inlet for gaseous fluid under pressure and an outlet adapted to be connected to a conduit for conveying solid particulate material away from the discharge chamber whereby solid particulate material advanced from said inlet for solid particulate material is discharged from said casing through said casing outlet into said discharge chamber and gaseous fluid under pressure supplied to said discharge chamber entrains the solid particulate material and conveys it through the material conduit to which it is connected, an improved means for selectively closing the outlet of the casing comprising a valve element surrounding the shaft of the screw impeller and pivotably mounted for swinging movement about an axis perpendicular to the screw impeller;
said valve element being shaped and having an opening positioned therein so that the edges of said opening immediately adjacent the shaft of the screw impeller initially swing away from the shaft at least until the valve element is open sufficient to permit material to be discharged from the casing through the casing outlet. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
- a screw impeller having a shaft mounted in said bore in the casing for advancing solid particulate material from said inlet to said outlet;
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16. A line charging device for use in supplying pulverulent material to a conveying line comprising a barrel having a material inlet to one end for material to be conveyed and a coaxial material outlet at the other end, an impeller rotatably mounted in said barrel for transporting material from said inlet through said barrel to said outlet, said impeller including a shaft extending through said outlet;
- a discharge housing mounted on the said other end for receiving material from the material outlet;
said discharge housing having a gas inlet on one side adopted to be connected to a source of gaseous fluid under pressure and a gas and entrained material outlet on the other side adopted to be connected to a conveying line, and valve means normally closing said outlet and openable by material being transported through said barrel including a valve element having an opening therethrough sufficiently large to permit said shaft to freely rotate and sufficiently small to at least partially close the outlet around the shaft;
said valve element having a first portion which defines a lower half of said opening and a second portion which defines an upper half of said opening;
said first portion being longitudinally spaced from said second portion along the length of said shaft. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
- a discharge housing mounted on the said other end for receiving material from the material outlet;
Specification