Air pulse feeder
US6662953B1 · kind B1 · utility
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Nov 22, 2002 |
| Grant date | Dec 16, 2003 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 15, 2022 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10S209/911
- WIPO fieldHandling
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
A dispensing system that includes an apparatus comprised of a container with a support surface, an opening in the upper portion for receiving items, a passageway in the lower portion for dispensing items, a guide surface to direct items into the passageway, a means for generating pulses of vacuum that draw pulses of air (or other fluid) into the container through the open passageway, and sufficient volume of available air (or other fluid) outside the passageway and outside the container to fill the vacuum generated inside the container. A preferred method of generating the vacuum pulses is injecting pulses of high-pressure fluid in thin sheets into the container through the open passageway with laminar flow against the support or guide surfaces. Items are lifted and separated by the influx of fluid. Upon termination of pulses, the volume inside the container collapses and items, carried by and buffered by exiting fluid, pass through the open passageway often at speeds in excess of those that would be generated by gravity alone.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.