Trough and process for separating bulk goods

Details Trough and process for separating bulk goods Trough and process for separating bulk goods

1989-10-25

1991-05-07

Valenza, Joseph E.

Conveyors, chutes, skids, guides, and ways

Chutes

198443, 198533, 198535, 198771, B65G 1100

Patent

active

050129139

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a trough which is held at its upper end for movement back-and-forth on an axis and is downwardly sloped along an inclined plane with its discharge edge being movable back-and-forth, and to a process for singularizing bulk goods.
To singularize bulk goods of relatively small volume, it is known to place the bulk material in reciprocating troughs which slope along an inclined plane and are capable of performing back-and-forth movements. The movements of the troughs can have a relatively high frequency and small amplitude and the troughs must be long for singularization. In order to singularize heaped tablets in the packing industry, for example, troughs of at least one meter or more in length are used.
The West German Offenlegungsschrift No. 3 321 463 discloses a trough for singularizing bulk goods which is sloped along an inclined plane, is pivotally held at its upper end and can be moved up-and-down by means of a pneumatic cylinder constituting an oscillator. The oscillatory motion of the trough takes place essentially perpendicular to the direction of advance of the bulk material.
The drawback of such troughs is that these must be long in order to achieve adequate singularization. Consequently, machines of this type require a large amount of room. Furthermore, due to the large number of movements of the trough, damage to the bulk material, such as chipping, dust formation or the like, is relatively frequent so that the singularized objects must be separated from broken material at the end of the singularizing zone.
The U.S. Pat. No. 2,456,031 teaches a conveyor for aligning, separating and advancing edible commodities and consisting of a movable frame of parallel guide members defining a grate whose rear portion is sloped along an inclined plane and merges into a horizontal portion which is pivotable back-and-forth horizontally. A drive belt driven by a motor located below the inclined plane of the conveyor runs beneath the guide members on which the goods are deposited. This conveyor is not suited for the singularization of tablets, pills, suppositories or grains.


OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the invention to provide a trough and a process which are designed to singularize bulk goods, such as tablets, pills, suppositories or grains, and achieve singularization of the individual objects along a short span; the number of movements required to singularize the objects is to be reduced and the length of the singularizing span is to be significantly decreased as compared to known singularizing troughs; likewise, virtually no more breakage of the bulk material is to occur.


SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The inventive trough and process for singularizing bulk goods possess a number of significant advantages. The trough is rotated back-and-forth on its longitudinal axis so that the discharge edge of the trough is moved back-and-forth with the amplitude of the trough being locally the same. Consequently, the individual objects of the bulk material slide back-and-forth transverse to the longitudinal direction of the trough and this back-and-forth movement of the individual objects increases the length of the singularizing path manyfold over the length of the trough.
Moreover, it is most advantageous for the bulk material to be lifted during each back-and-forth movement. In this manner, the individual objects of the bulk material acquire potential energy in addition to their kinetic energy and, when this potential energy is again converted into kinetic energy, it enables an individual object to press objects located laterally, above, below and in front of the same to the side thereby significantly accelerating and improving the singularizing procedure. This lifting of the bulk material during each back-and-forth movement is most easily achieved by constructing the trough as a hollow cylinder or as an oval with laterally curved side walls. The individual objects of the bulk material then, to a degree, travel up the side walls during each back-and-for

REFERENCES:
patent: 2456031 (1948-12-01), Spain
patent: 2886208 (1959-05-01), Sinclair
patent: 3767029 (1973-10-01), Ownen
patent: 4352440 (1982-10-01), Fukai et al.
patent: 4378871 (1983-04-01), Clark

Affiliated with

Also associated with

Rating

Trough and process for separating bulk goods does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Trough and process for separating bulk goods, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Trough and process for separating bulk goods will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-933710