Weighing and filling method and apparatus
First Claim
1. In an apparatus for weighing and filling powdered materials wherein a generally horizontally disposed trough contains said powdered materials and drive means are drivingly connected to said trough to incrementally advance said powdered materials toward a discharge section thereof, the improvement comprising:
- orifice means at said discharge section of said trough forming a downwardly directed opening for discharge of said materials by gravity therethrough;
a valve member aligned with respect to the opening in said orifice means; and
support means for suspending said valve member over said opening for vertically directed, reciprocal movement of said valve member with respect to said opening in response to activation of said drive in advancing the powdered materials through the opening.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for rapidly and accurately dispensing measured amounts of powdered material from a vibratory feeder with a shaker rod extending through an orifice at the discharge end of the feeder and which rod undergoes reciprocal movement in response to vibration of the feeder to regulate the advancement of the powdered material. Alternate forms of control algorithms are employed in association with a computer to determine the optimum rate of feed and drive level for a given powder and feeder arrangement to result in a specific final weight within an acceptable tolerance for each fill cycle.
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Citations
31 Claims
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1. In an apparatus for weighing and filling powdered materials wherein a generally horizontally disposed trough contains said powdered materials and drive means are drivingly connected to said trough to incrementally advance said powdered materials toward a discharge section thereof, the improvement comprising:
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orifice means at said discharge section of said trough forming a downwardly directed opening for discharge of said materials by gravity therethrough; a valve member aligned with respect to the opening in said orifice means; and support means for suspending said valve member over said opening for vertically directed, reciprocal movement of said valve member with respect to said opening in response to activation of said drive in advancing the powdered materials through the opening. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. In a vibratory feeder apparatus for weighing and filling powdered materials wherein a generally horizontally extending trough contains said powdered materials, and oscillating means are provided to oscillate said trough to incrementally advance said powdered materials toward a discharge end thereof, the improvement comprising:
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orifice means at said discharge end of said trough including a downwardly directed opening for discharge of said powdered materials under gravity therethrough; an elongated slender rod including a lower end portion extending downwardly through said orifice means; and rod support means including a bracket secured to the discharge end of said trough, said bracket including an opening in vertically spaced, aligned relation to the opening in said orifice means for the passage of said rod therethrough. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. In an apparatus for weighing and filling powdered materials from a feeder having a trough in which said powdered material is deposited, drive means for vibrating said trough to advance said powdered material toward a discharge end thereof, and weight sensing means for weighing material deposited into a receptacle from said discharge end wherein a target weight represents the cumulative weight of powdered material to be deposited over a fill cycle within a predetermined fill tolerance and a feed rate is established which represents the weight of material to be deposited with respect to time during each fill cycle, the improvement comprising:
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orifice means provided with a downwardly directed opening for depositing material from the discharge end of said trough, and an elongated shaker rod extending downwardly through the opening in said orifice means, said drive means imparting vertically directed, reciprocal motion to said rod via said trough; said weight sensing means weighing the cumulative amount of material deposited at predetermined time intervals during each fill cycle; and programmable control means responsive to the cumulative weight of material deposited with respect to time during each fill cycle for determining at each said predetermined time interval the additional weight of material to be deposited and time required to deposit until the cumulative weight of material deposited reaches said target weight in each fill cycle. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method of weighing and filling powdered materials in which said powdered materials are dispensed from a feeder in response to oscillation of said feeder, said feeder having drive means for oscillating said feeder at a plurality of drive levels between a maximum drive level and a minimum drive level, and a weight sensor is provided together with a computer for continuously weighing the material dispensed into a container and for determining when a desired weight of material has been dispensed into the container over a fill cycle, the steps comprising:
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(1) calibrating said feeder for each different type of powdered material, desired weight to be filled and fill tolerance, and adjusting the drive level during each calibration step so that the feed rate is a percentage of each preceding feed rate in succession as the feed rate is decreased between the maximum drive level and the minimun drive level; (2) entering into said computer the desired weight to be filled in a fill cycle (W), the fill tolerance representing the permissible variation between the actual weight filled (W1) and the desired weight to be filled (W) and the time constant (K) representing the response time of the weight sensor; (3) establishing a range of drive levels (D) at which said feeder is to be oscillated from said maximum to said minimum drive level; (4) initiating a fill cycle in which materials are dispensed at a maximum drive level while continuously weighing the actual weight filled (W'"'"') of the materials dispensed; (5) computing the desired feed rate (R) continuously throughout each fill cycle according to the following algorithm;
##EQU2## and reducing the drive level (D) based on a non-linear function of said desired feed rate (R) until the minimum drive level is reached; and(6) driving said feeder at the minimum drive level while continuously comparing the actual weight filled (W1) with the desired weight (W) until the actual weight filled (W1) is equal to the desired weight (W) to be filled less a corrrection factor (F). - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. The method of weighing and filling powdered materials wherein said powdered materials are dispensed from a vibratory feeder, said feeder having drive means for oscillating said feeder at a predetermined drive level, and a weight sensor is provided together with a computer for continuously weighing the materials dispensed by said feeder into a container and for determining when a desired weight of material has been dispensed into the container over a fill cycle, the steps comprising:
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(1) entering into said computer the desired weight to be filled in a fill cycle (W), entering the fill tolerance (F) representing the permissible variation between the actual weight filled (W'"'"') and the desired weight to be filled (W) and establishing a predetermined drive level (D) at which said feeder is to be oscillated during said fill cycle; (2) calibrating said feeder prior to a fill cycle for each diferent type of powdered material by determining the feed rate for a given material when said feeder is driven at the predetermined drive level (B); (3) initiating a fill cycle in which said feeder is oscillated at the predetermined drive level over a predetermined time interval necessary to dispense the desired weight (W); (4) deactivating said drive means and weighing the material dispensed at the end of each step (3) until a stable weight reading is obtained; (5) activating said drive means at the predetermined drive level over a time duration representing predetermined percentage of the time required to dispense a additional quantity of material necessary to each the desired weight (W); (6) determining the cumulative weight of material dispensed and comparing the cumulative weight thereof recorded with the desired weight (W); (7) repeating steps (5) and (6) until the actual weight dispensed is at least equal to the desired weight (W) less the fill tolerance (F). - View Dependent Claims (30, 31)
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Specification