Volumetric dry materials feeder

Claim 1

Apparatus for conditioning and dispensing particulate solid material comprising a conditioning chamber having an upper receiving inlet and a dispensing outlet, a first auger horizontally disposed within said chamber and extending towards said outlet and having helical blade for propelling said material towards said outlet in response to rotation of the auger, a second larger open spiral auger mounted coaxially with respect to said first auger for conditioning and feeding said material into said first auger in response to rotation of the second auger, said second auger being disposed concentrically and in overlapping relationship with respect to said first auger, a third open spiral auger mounted in side-by-side parallel relationship with respect to the second auger, said third auger being of substantially the same diameter as said second auger, said upper receiving inlet extending over an area so that said particulate solid material directly flows into said second and third augers substantially along their entire length, and means for rotating said augers at predetermined ratio of speeds one with respect to the others, said means for rotating said augers rotates said first and second augers in one direction and said third augers in the opposite direction, said second and third augers being mounted in said conditioning chamber in a cantalever-like manner, respectively, whereby said apparatus is particularly applicable to conditioning and dispensing a medium volumetric range of particulate solid material from about 0.002 cubic-feet per hour to about 50 cubic-feet per hour.