Conveyors: fluid current – Having means for maintaining load in suspension along flow path – Including permeable member
Reexamination Certificate
1999-09-30
2001-05-08
Ellis, Christopher P. (Department: 3651)
Conveyors: fluid current
Having means for maintaining load in suspension along flow path
Including permeable member
C406S191000, C138S114000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06227768
ABSTRACT:
CROSS REFERENCE TO COPENDING APPLICATIONS AND RELATED PATENTS
Attention is directed to commonly owned and assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,685,348, issued Nov. 11, 1997, entitled “ELECTROMAGNETIC FILLER FOR TONER”; U.S. Pat. No. 5,699,842, issued Dec. 23, 1997, entitled “MAGNETIC FILLING AND MIXING APPARATUS AND PROCESSES THEREOF”; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,921,295, issued Jun. 13, 1999, entitled “HIGH SPEED NOZZLE FOR TONER FILLING.”
Attention is directed to commonly assigned copending applications: U.S. Ser. No. 09/061,122, filed Apr. 16, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,982,234, issued Nov. 23, 1999, entitled “APPARATUS FOR PARTICULATE PROCESSING” which discloses an apparatus including a funnel comprising a housing operably connected to a particulate source at one end and extending downwardly therefrom to a receiver member at the other end, the funnel being adapted to permit a flow of powder therethrough, and wherein the inner wall of the funnel is adapted with a porous member which provides a boundary layer of gas between the porous member and the powder; U.S. Ser. No. 09/173,415, filed Oct. 15, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,024,141, issued Feb. 15, 2000, entitled “Particulate Processing Apparatus”, An apparatus including: a conduit operably connected to a source and extending downwardly therefrom, the conduit being adapted to permit a flow of particulate material from the source through the conduit; a fluidizing nozzle operably connected to the conduit and extending downwardly therefrom, the nozzle defining an inlet for receiving material from the conduit and defining an outlet for dispensing material from the nozzle to a receiver, the inlet defining an inlet cross sectional area perpendicular to the flow the material and outlet defining an outlet cross sectional area perpendicular to the flow the material, the inlet cross sectional area being larger than the outlet cross sectional area; the nozzle being adapted with a plenum including an inlet port for receiving compressed gas and a chamber adapted to communicate the gas to the porous walls of the nozzle, and an outlet port for engaging a vacuum source to continuously evacuate the receiver while the nozzle is engaged with the receiver; a conveyor located at least partially within the conduit, the conveyor assisting to provide the flow of material from the source to the receiver, and an electromagnetic valve located adjacent to at least a portion of the conduit, the electromagnetic valve being adapted to supply a magnetic force to the material in the conduit until a second receiver replaces the first receiver, the magnetic force being sufficient to restrict or stop the material flow through the nozzle; and U.S. Ser. No. 09/173,395, filed Nov. 10, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,021,821, issued Feb. 8, 2000, entitled “Particulate Processing Apparatus” which discloses an apparatus including: a conduit operably connected to a source and extending downwardly therefrom, the conduit being adapted to permit a flow of particulate material from the source through the conduit; a fluidizing nozzle operably connected to the conduit and extending downwardly therefrom, the nozzle defining an inlet for receiving material from the conduit and defining an outlet for dispensing material from the nozzle to a receiver, the inlet defining an inlet cross sectional area perpendicular to the flow of the material and outlet defining an outlet cross sectional area perpendicular to the flow of the material, the inlet cross sectional area being larger than the outlet cross sectional area; the nozzle being adapted with a plenum including an inlet port for receiving compressed gas and a chamber adapted to communicate the gas to the porous walls of the nozzle, and an outlet port for engaging a vacuum source to continuously evacuate the receiver while the nozzle is engaged with the receiver; a conveyor located at least partially within the conduit, the conveyor assisting the flow of material from the source to the receiver; and a liner member residing on to at least a portion of the inner surface of said conduit and adjacent to said nozzle.
The disclosures of each of the above mentioned patents and copending applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. The appropriate components and processes of these patents may be selected for the toners and processes of the present invention in embodiments thereof.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to apparatuses and methods for controllably and accurately conveying particulate materials. More specifically the invention concerns reliably conveying particulate materials from a particulate source container, such as a toner hopper, to subsequent unit operation process equipment. As an illustrative example, receiving receptacles on a fill line conveyor belt can receive particulates such as toner from a supply hopper by transport through a particulate conveyor article of the present invention and thereafter to a receiving manifold and subsequently to the toner receptacles. Other receivers can include a particulate mixer or formulating device, or a melt mixer or extruder device. The invention can be accomplished by fluidizing particulate materials and thereafter directing the resulting fluidized particulates to a fluidizing conveyor or conduit. The inner walls of the fluidizing conveyor article are highly porous, that is micro-porous, and permit a continuous stream of compressed gas to permeate the inner wall and into the interior cavity of the conduit to provide enhanced flow properties to the particulate materials.
A variety of particulate materials can be readily transported with the particulate conveyor apparatus of the present invention, for example, polymer particles and aggregates thereof such as lattices, toner particles, fine particle surface additives, such as hydrophilic or hydrophobic metal oxide particles, non magnetic particles, magnetic particles, fine powdered materials, such as food stuffs and pharmaceuticals, and mixtures thereof.
In embodiments the conveyor apparatus of the present invention can include: an optional fluidizing module for fluidizing otherwise non-fluid particulates received from a particle feed source; a fluidizing conduit article with gas permeable walls for fluidizing and controllably transporting the particulates from the source area or fluidizing area to an ultimate receiver vessel or subsequent unit operation; an optional receiver module for receiving the particulates from the fluidizing conduit article and to permit appropriate depressurization of the fluidized particulate stream; and optionally a low surface tension liner material in at least some portions of the fluidizing conduit which assists in the transport of particulates from the source to the receiver, for example, at connection points between the source or fluidizing module and the conduit, or between the conduit the receiver module. The low-friction low-surface tension or “non-stick” liner material further ensures continuous and non-blocking flow of particulate materials into, through, and out of the conduit article enabling smooth delivery of material and trouble free operation of the conveyor apparatus. The fluidizing conduit article or conveyor article of the present invention in conjunction with the particulate conveyor apparatus can provide exceptionally reliable particulate transport where, for example, clogging or particle flow inhibition of throughput rates are very low or eliminated; and high fill rates, high fill densities, and clean operation are consistently obtained. The article and apparatus provide for smooth, continuous flow, and high throughput of particulate materials.
The apparatus and method of the present invention solves important particulate transport problems and provides various advantages including: greatly reduced time required to transport particulate materials to receiving vessels in a continuous manner; and reduced downtime for blockage or leakage problems associated with continuous particle transport operations.
The apparatus and method of the present invention also prev
Barbisan Joseph C.
Haack John L.
Higuchi Fumii
Wegman Paul M.
Dillon, Jr. Joe
Ellis Christopher P.
Haack John L.
Xerox Corporation
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