Apparatus for controllably feeding a particulate material
US5016683A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 27, 1990 |
| Grant date | May 21, 1991 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 27, 2010 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC B)Performing Operations; Transporting
- CPC primaryB01F35/71411
- WIPO fieldChemical engineering
- WIPO sectorChemistry
Abstract
An apparatus for controllably feeding a particulate material, and particularly silicon material into a crucible, comprises a drum mounted for rotation about an axis tilted at an acute angle with reference to the horizontal. At least one cavity, a portion of which is formed in the inner surface of the bottom wall of the drum, extends from about the outer periphery of the bottom wall at its one end towards the center thereof at its other end. At one of its ends, the cavity communicates with an aperture in the bottom wall. A feeding tube having an outlet port supplies the material into the cavity and is so positioned in relation to the drum that the outlet port directs the material into the cavity only when the cavity is in a rotational position in which its end with the aperture is elevated with respect to a horizontal plane above the other end of the same cavity and pours the material into that portion of the receiving cavity which is remote from the aperture. The flow of the material is interrupted when its level above the cavity reaches a predetermined level. Upon rotation of the drum, the cavity is filled with the material fed from the tube during the rotation of the drum through…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.