Pneumatic scaling system

Claim 2

A pneumatic conveying system for conveying finely divided material from a supply container to a receptor container by means of a conduit and for returning a portion of said finely divided material to said supply container, comprising a conduit, blower means for moving a stream of a gas at relatively high speed through said conduit, a supply container, feeder means adapted to mechanically feed finely divided material from said supply container into said conduit, a receptor container spaced from said supply container by means of said conduit, scale means associated with said receptor container and adapted to sense when a predetermined first weight and a predetermined final weight of finely divided material has been deposited in said receptor container, valve means associated with said conduit and with said receptor container and adapted for movement from a first position in which it seals said receptor container from said conduit to permit the return of said material to said supply container by said conduit and a second position in which it diverts the flow of said finely divided material from said conduit into said receptor container, and a third position in which it diverts only a portion of the flow of finely divided material from said conduit into said receptor container while permitting the other portion of said material to be returned to the supply container by means of the conduit, and means associated with said scale means and with said feeder means for operating said feeder means at a relatively high speed while said valve is in said second position until said predetermined first weight has been deposited in said receptor container and at a relatively lower speed while said valve is in said third position until said predetermined final weight has been deposited in said receptor container to vary the rate at which said finely divided material is fed into said conduit for conveyance to said receptor container.

Claim 3

A system according to claim 1 in which there are a plurality of supply containers each having its own feeder means adapted to mechanically feed finely divided material into said conduit, means for operating said feeder means one at a time, and means for returning the portion of said finely divided material which is not diverted into said receptor container to the particular supply container from which it originated.

Claim 4

A system according to claim 1 in which there are a plurality of receptor containers each having its own valve means, and means for controlling said valve means whereby only one of said valve means is adapted for movement to said second position at any given time and whereby the others of said valve means remain in said first position.

Claim 5

A system according to claim 1 in which there are a pluRality of supply containers, each having its own feeder means, and a plurality of receptor containers, each having its own valve means, means for selectively conveying finely divided material from each of said supply containers, one at a time, to each of said receptor containers, one at a time, and for returning the material from each of the supply containers, which is not diverted into a receptor container, back to the supply container from which it originated.

Claim 6

A system according to claim 1 which comprises means for providing a signal indicative of the position of the diverter valve, and adjustable means for establishing a value of said signal for said third position.

Claim 7

A pneumatic conveying system for conveying finely divided material from a plurality of supply containers to a plurality of receptor containers by means of a conduit and for returning a portion of said finely divided material to the supply container from which it originated, comprising a conduit, blower means for moving a stream of a gas at relatively high speed through said conduit, a plurality of supply containers, feeder means associated with each of said supply containers and adapted to mechanically feed finely divided material from each supply container into said conduit, a plurality of receptor containers spaced from said supply containers by means of said conduit, valve means associated with said conduit and with each of said receptor containers and adapted for movement from a first position in which it seals the receptor container from said conduit to permit the return of said material to the supply container from which it originated by said conduit, a second position in which it diverts the flow of said finely divided material from said conduit into the receptor container and a third position in which it diverts only a portion of the flow of said finely divided material from said conduit into the receptor container, means for operating said feeder means at relatively high speed when said valve means is in said second position and at relatively lower speed when said valve means is in said third position.

Claim 8

A pneumatic conveying system for conveying finely divided material from a plurality of supply containers to a plurality of receptor containers by means of a conduit and for returning a portion of said finely divided material to the supply container from which it originated, comprising a conduit, blower means for moving a stream of a gas at relatively high speed through said conduit, a plurality of supply containers, feeder means associated with each of said supply containers and adapted to mechanically feed finely divided material from each supply container into said conduit, a plurality of receptor containers spaced from said supply containers by means of said conduit, valve means associated with said conduit and with each of said receptor containers and adapted for movement from a first position in which it seals the receptor container from said conduit to permit the return of said material to the supply container from which it originated by said conduit, a second position in which it diverts the flow of said finely divided material from said conduit into the receptor container and a third position in which it diverts only a portion of the flow of said finely divided material from said conduit into the receptor container, means for operating said feeder means at relatively high speed when said valve means is in said second position and at relatively lower speed when said valve means is in said third position.

Claim 9

A pneumatic conveying system according to claim 6 comprising scale means associated with each of said receptor containers and adapted to sense when a predetermined first weight and a predetermined final weight of finely divided material has been deposited in each receptor container from each of said supply containers, and means associated with each said scale means and with each feeder means for operating said feeder means at relatively high speed until said first weight is deposited and then at relatively lower speed until said final weight is deposited.

Claim 12

A pneumatic conveying system for conveying finely divided material from a supply container to a receptor container by means of a conduit and for returning a portion of said finely divided material to said supply container, comprising a conduit, blower means for moving a stream of a gas at relatively high speed through said conduit, a supply container, feeder means adapted to mechanically feed finely divided material from said supply container into said conduit, a receptor containEr spaced from said supply container by means of said conduit, scale means associated with said receptor container and adapted to sense when a predetermined first weight and a predetermined final weight of finely divided material has been deposited in said receptor container, valve means associated with said conduit and with said receptor container and adapted for movement from a first position in which it seals said receptor container from said conduit to permit the return of said material to said supply container by said conduit and a second position in which it diverts the flow of said finely divided material from said conduit into said receptor container, means associated with said scale means and with said valve means for movement of said valve means from said second position to said first position to purge the conduit of said material when said first predetermined weight has been deposited, from said first position to said second position until said final predetermined weight has been deposited, and from said second position to said first position to again purge the conduit of said material, and means associated with said scale means and with said feeder means for stopping said feeder means when said predetermined first weight has been deposited and for operating the feeder means at reduced speed until said predetermined final weight of material has been deposited and for stopping the feeder means when said predetermined final weight has been deposited.

Claim 13

A pneumatic conveying system for conveying finely divided material from a supply container to a receptor container by means of a conduit and for returning a portion of said finely divided material to said supply container, comprising a conduit, blower means for moving a stream of a gas at relatively high speed through said conduit, a supply container, feeder means adapted to mechanically feed finely divided material from said supply container into said conduit, a receptor containEr spaced from said supply container by means of said conduit, scale means associated with said receptor container and adapted to sense when a predetermined first weight and a predetermined final weight of finely divided material has been deposited in said receptor container, valve means associated with said conduit and with said receptor container and adapted for movement from a first position in which it seals said receptor container from said conduit to permit the return of said material to said supply container by said conduit and a second position in which it diverts the flow of said finely divided material from said conduit into said receptor container, means associated with said scale means and with said valve means for movement of said valve means from said second position to said first position to purge the conduit of said material when said first predetermined weight has been deposited, from said first position to said second position until said final predetermined weight has been deposited, and from said second position to said first position to again purge the conduit of said material, and means associated with said scale means and with said feeder means for stopping said feeder means when said predetermined first weight has been deposited and for operating the feeder means at reduced speed until said predetermined final weight of material has been deposited and for stopping the feeder means when said predetermined final weight has been deposited.

Claim 14

A pneumatic conveying system for conveying finely divided material from a supply container to a receptor container by means of a conduit and for returning a portion of said finely divided material to said supply container, comprising a conduit, blower means for moving a stream of a gas at relatively high speed through said conduit, a supply container, feeder means adapted to mechanically feed finely divided material from said supply container into said conduit, a receptor container spaced from said supply container by means of said conduit, scale means associated with said receptor container and adapted to sense when a predetermined first weight and a predetermined final weight of finely divided material has been deposited in said receptor container, valve means associated with said conduit and with said receptor container and adapted for movement from a first position in which it seals said receptor container from said conduit to permit the return of said material to said supply container by said conduit and a second position in which it diverts the flow of said finely divided material from said conduit into said receptor container, and a third position in which it diverts only a portion of the flow of said finely divided material from said conduit into said receptor container while permitting the other portion of said material to be returned to the supply container by means of the conduit, means associated with said scale means and with said valve means for movement of said valve means from said second position to said first position to purge the conduit of said material when said first predetermined weight has been deposited, from said first position to said second position until said final predetermined weight has been deposited, and from said second position to said first position to again purge the conduit of said material, and means associated with said scale means and with said feeder means for operating said feeder means at relatively high speed until said predetermined first weight has been deposited and for operating the feeder means at relatively lower speed until said predetermined final weight of material has been deposited.

Claim 15

A pneumatic conveying system for conveying finely divided material from a supply container to a receptor container by means of a conduit and for returning a portion of said finely divided material to said supply container, comprising a conduit, blower means for moving a stream of a gas at relatively high speed through said conduit, a supply container, feeder means adapted to mechanically feed finely divided material from said supply container into said conduit, a receptor container spaced from said supply container by means of said conduit, scale means associated with said receptor container and adapted to sense when a predetermined first weight and a predetermined final weight of finely divided material has been deposited in said receptor container, valve means associated with said conduit and with said receptor container and adapted for movement from a first position in which it seals said receptor container from said conduit to permit the return of said material to said supply container by said conduit and a second position in which it diverts the flow of said finely divided material from said conduit into said receptor container, and a third position in which it diverts only a portion of the flow of said finely divided material from said conduit into said receptor container while permitting the other portion of said material to be returned to the supply container by means of the conduit, means associated with said scale means and with said valve means for movement of said valve means from said second position to said first position to purge the conduit of said material when said first predetermined weight has been deposited, from said first position to said second position until said final predetermined weight has been deposited, and from said second position to said first position to again purge the conduit of said material, and means associated with said scale means and with said feeder means for operating said feeder means at relatively high speed until said predetermined first weight has been deposited and for operating the feeder means at relatively lower speed until said predetermined final weight of material has been deposited.