Centrifugal belt thrower

Claim 1

A centrifugal belt thrower comprising an endless belt, a cylindrical discharge wheel having circular end walls and annular means thereon for supporting lateral margins of the belt, a first and a second pulley positioned to hold the belt engaged with a substantial peripheral arc of the wheel, means for delivering particulate material through the peripheral margins of the wheel onto the belt between said end walls, means for propelling the wheel, pulleys and belt at high velocity to cause the material on the belt to be centrifugally pressed against the belt and to be accelerated thereby and to be discharged tangentially therefrom in the vicinity of the second pulley, and a plurality of angularly spaced-apart vane means having vanes pivotally supported on the wheel near its axis and freely oscillatable about each support with their outer margins radially extendable by centrifugal force into proximity with the belt and exerting radial centrifugal pressure on said material thus pressing the material against the belt but adapted to be retracted and swung freely out of radial position by encounter with the material entering the wheel to permit passage of the material under said margins onto the belt.