GB966288A - Apparatus and method for packing aerated materials - Google Patents

Abstract

966,288. Filling containers; hopper discharge. IMPERIAL CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES OF AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND Ltd. April 29, 1963 [April 30, 1962], No. 16776/63. Headings B8C and B8S. Aerated solid flowable material is sealed in a space 5 in a cylinder 2 and subsequently let through a valve 4 into a partially evacuated receptacle 11, thus minimizing the quantity of entrapped air in the packaged material. The charge of material is dropped from a hopper 1 into the space 5 whilst the receptacle enclosure 9 and the space below the valve 4 are evacuated through outlets 10 and 8 respectively. The vacuum is cut off, the valve 3 closed and the valve 4 then opened. When the material has fallen into the receptacle 11, the valve 4 is closed and air is readmitted to the enclosure 9 through a tube 10<SP>1</SP> to cause the receptacle 11, which may be a plastics bag, to be brought into contact with the closely packed powder. The enclosure 9 is then disconnected from the cylinder 2 and the package closed whilst the valve 3 is reopened and the cylindrical space 5 recharged with material. Instead of clamping a flexible receptacle between the cylinder 2 and enclosure 9, a rigid receptacle may be placed in the enclosure or the receptacle may be directly clamped to the cylinder without using an enclosure. A series of measured charges may be delivered from a sealed cylinder into a number of receptacles, the cylinder remaining sealed until refilling is required. The capacity of the enclosure 9 is preferably greater than the capacity of the enclosed space 5 in the cylinder 2. The valves 3, 4 are rubber membranes operated by withdrawal or admission of air through tubes 6, 6<SP>1</SP> and 7, 7<SP>1</SP>.