Solid material comminution or disintegration – Processes – With heating or cooling of material
Reexamination Certificate
1997-06-20
2001-03-13
Hail, III, Joseph J. (Department: 3725)
Solid material comminution or disintegration
Processes
With heating or cooling of material
C241S013000, C241S029000, C241S276000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06199780
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a method for compacting particulate material which is fed in a first section determining the degree of compaction and the weight/volume ratio is increased in a second section determining its degree of compaction, after which the degree of compaction of the material might optionally be controlled a further time in a third section, generally forming the outlet.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Such devices are used, in general, for compacting granular or powdery vegetable materials, such as cocoa or coffee, but also for teas and infusions to compact them prior to fill them into bags. For in packaging such bulk material, the problem arises that the bag should contain a predetermined weight, on the one hand, and that the bag should be well filled, on the other hand. This requires a predetermined bulk weight of the material, i.e. a predetermined weight/volume ratio (=specific density). This is especially a problem if different sorts of material, such as coffee, having undergone different degrees of treatment, such as different degrees of roasting or having a different fineness after milling, shall be packed, and overfilling or underfilling of the package should be avoided.
In a known device of this kind (see EP-A-0 485 772), a single shaft having, first, a feeding screw and then compacting tools comprising stirring and compacting paddles are provided, an adjustable outlet opening being postponed for final compaction. The size of the outlet opening is merely manually adjustable in order to cause the retaining effect requested and the correlated change of pressure.
It has now been found that, although such an arrangement meets the purpose, it involves also some disadvantages:
1. The throughput is determined by the number of revolutions, the pitch and the diameter of the feeding screw. With a given screw geometry, however, solely one number of revolutions will make sense. On the other hand, in case that another number of revolutions, e.g. a higher one, is required for the compaction unit, the feeding screw would produce unnecessary frictional work due to its retaining effect, thus heating the material in an undesirable manner.
2. The outlet cross-section, which remains fixed once it has been adjusted, does not guarantee a constant pressure, that is to say in case the throughput is not constant, i.e. with an increase of the throughput, the pressure within the apparatus will raise too, and vice-versa.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, it is an object of the invention to better control compacting of particulate material.
According to the invention this object is achieved in that energy can be absorbed separately within the feeding section and the compacting section by means of separate devices, thus influencing the degree of compaction within said sections independently from each other.
By proceeding in such a way, first the above-mentioned object will be attained. In addition, however, improved constructive possibilities will present themselves in a surprising manner. Namely, if one starts with an apparatus comprising a feeding device in the first section and a compacting device in the second section, optionally including a final compacting stage in a third or exit section, where the feeding device and the compacting device have separate drives, not only new facilities are created in view of adjustibility and the possibility of a control, but it offers also more freedom with respect to a favorable selection of dimensions of both devices, especially if the feeding device and the compacting device are situated in different planes. For heretofore, the size was determined and limited by the series connection of both devices.
This is particularly favorable if a cooling unit for at least one of the compartments is provided. Although it is conceivable that the feeding or the compacting device is situated at the beginning of the respective section, it is more space saving and more efficient if at least one of the feeding device and the compacting device comprise at least one rotor, in which case the corresponding wall means form a stator surrounding the rotor. With such a design, an embodiment could be provided in which at least one of the rotor and the stator comprise the cooling facility.
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Buhler GmbH
Farber Martin A.
Hail III Joseph J.
Hong William
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