US3212672A

US3212672A - Dry diatomaceous earth feeder

Info

Publication number: US3212672A
Application number: US227620A
Authority: US
Inventors: Sarah M Kromhout; Wessel De Wayne
Original assignee: ELGIN SOFTENER Inc
Current assignee: ELGIN SOFTENER Inc
Priority date: 1962-08-20
Filing date: 1962-08-20
Publication date: 1965-10-19
Anticipated expiration: 1982-10-19

Description

Oct. 19, 1965 A. KROMHOUT ETAL 3,212,672

DRY DIATOMACEOUS EARTH FEEDER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. zo, 1962 Oct. 19, 1965 A. KROMHOUT ETAL 3,212,672

DRY DIATOMACEOUS EARTH FEEDER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 20, 1962 United States Patent 3,212,672 DRY DATGMACEUUS EARTH FEEDER Andrew Kromhout, deceased, late of Elgin, Ill., by Sarah M. Kromhout, executrix, and De Wayne Wessel, Elgin,

Ill., assignors, by rnesne assignments, to Elgin Softener Inc., Elgin, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Filed Aug. 20, 1962, Ser. No. 227,620 Claims. (Cl. Z22-56) This invention relates to mechanical feeding devices and is more particularly concerned with a dry diatomaceous earth feeder, suitable for use in swimming pool filtration apparatus, for example.

The principal object of our invention is to provide a feeder of the kind mentioned utilizing a chain attached to a radius arm on the upper end of a vertical shaft and rotatable in the center of an upright generally cylindrical container having a funnel-shaped lower end portion for delivery of the fine granular material in calibrated amounts through a centrally located cylindrical throat or spout provided in the lower end of the funnel through which a vertical shaft extends downwardly from the center of the hopper, a propeller in the form of an elongated vertical U-bolt fastened to the shaft operating in the throat to eliminate any possibility of material packing therein, and the lower end portion of the chain, which is preferably of smaller size, being connected with the propeller so as to form with the shaft an auger by wrapping around the shaft so long as the hopper contains a large amount of the material to be fed, whereby to keep a clear passage down through the center of the material and eliminate any possibility of packing and plugging at the entrance to the throat, the heavier chain forming the major portion of the length of the chain employed tending normally to hang vertically downwardly from the radius arm and sweep first on top of the bed of material to loosen some material and spill it down through the central passage until nearly all of the material is used up, this chain later sweeping the inside walls of the hopper as well as the rounded funnelshaped bottom portion thereof to remove the last `of the material from the sides and bottom.

In accordance with a further object of our invention, the shaft has a circular plate turning with it relative to the spout that forms the discharge end of the hopper and defining a delivery slot annularly thereof by reason of its closely spaced relationship to the lower end of a collar that is disposed in telescoping relation to the aforesaid spout, the plate and collar being relatively adjustable axially to vary the Width of the slot and Ithereby the rate of feeding of the material as desired. This enables very fine adjustment of feed, as required for swimming pool filtration apparatus.

A further object is to provide in one assembly with the dry earth feeder a combination float box and mixing chamber into which water is delivered to maintain a predetermined level in the mixing chamber where a slurry is formed by a mixture of the diatomaceous earth and water and is continuously pumped to a filter to maintain a predetermined thickness of the earth therein to insure eiiicient filtering action. The amount of diatomaceous earth to be fed is, of course, dependent on the amount of water from the pool circulated through the lter per hour, a normal feed being .05 to .O8 lb. of diatomaceous earth per .thousand gallons per hours of water circulated. If greater quantities of diatomaceous earth are fed, longer runs between back-washings will be obtained, but excessive feeds are costly, and therefore the reduction in the frequency of back-washing must be balanced against the cost of diatomaceous earth. Changes in conditions make necessary slight changes in the feeding of the earth to the filter and hence it is important to have a feeder Patented ct. 19, 1965 capable of fine adjustment, like that of the present invention.

A very compact and neat assembly is obtained by having the float box and mixing chamber of annular or doughnut design, fixed to the underside of a table that is secured to the supporting legs for the feeder-hopper. The drive motor whose armature shafts transmits drive to the vertical shaft of the feeder is suspended Ifrom the table at the center thereof centrally with respect to the oat box and mixing chamber and carries a cooling fan on the lower end thereof driven off the armature, and the updraft from this fan avoids over-heating of the motor on long runs despite the enclosure thereof, while a stationary diverter bar cooperating with the rotary plate and the collar that defines the delivery slot between it and the plate directs the discharge of the earth in a steady fine stream through an opening in the table directly into .the mixing chamber.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which- FIG. 1 is a central vertical section through a feeder made in accordance with our invention showing the container thereof empty and omitting the annular or doughnut shaped float box and mixing chamber and other mechanism provided below the hopper and appearing partly in side elevation and partly in section in FIG. 2;

FIG. 2 is a similar view showing the container nearly full and indicating the mode of operation, the float box and mixing chamber being shown in section so as to disclose the electric motor drive unit and cooling fan therefor;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the lower portion of FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrating how the diatomaceous earth fed in calibrated amount is discharged in a steady fine stream into the mixing chamber throughout the operation of the feeder;

FIG. 4 is a perspective of one form of propeller provided on the lower end of the rotary vertical shaft in the feeder, this View serving to better illustrate the large chain link welded to the propeller for the double purpose of acting as an open or perforated paddle type mixer or stirrer, besides having the lower end of the small chain of the .feeder secured thereto, and

FIG. 5 is a piping diagram showing the hook-up of the float box and mixing chamber on the feeder with the recirculating pump for a swimming pool filter.

The same reference numerals are applied to corresponding parts throughout these views.

Referring to the drawings, the reference numeral 6 designates the open top container or tank with arcuate funnel shaped bottom 7 emptying into the upper end of a cylindrical lthroat or spout portion 8 through which the dry diatomaceous earth or other fine granular material indicated at 9 in FIG. 2 is delivered by gravity for discharge in measured amounts through an annular slot 10 defined between the marginal or peripheral portion 11 of a rotary circular plate 12 and the bottom of a collar 13 that is threadedly adjustable on the spout 8 and arranged to be fixed with respect thereto in any suitable manner as by means of a set screw 14. There is indicated at 15 in FIG. 3 the spilling of the earth or other granular material off the peripheral edge of the plate 12. The turning of the plate 12 with the vertical shaft 16, cooperates in a novel manner with primary propeller 17 and a secondary propeller 18 to insure uninterrupted delivery of the material at a steady rate, by reason of the elimination of any possibility of packing of material either in the throat 8 or in the container 6 at the entrance to the throat. The primary propeller 17 operates centrally of the throat of spout 8, and the secondary propeller 18 turns with the shaft in the hopper 6 and forms with the shaft an auger as indicated at 19 in FIG. 2 when the chain forming said secondary propeller winds around the shaft to whatever height thereon, is determined by the amount of material 9 left in the hopper.

The propeller 17 is in the form of an elongated U-bolt, the legs 20 of which exten-d through diametrical holes 21 in the shaft 16 and have nuts 22 threaded on their protruding end portions. An elongated chain link 23 is welded to one leg 20 of the U-bolt 17 as indiacted at 23 in FIG. 4 in 90 relationship thereto and parallel to the shaft 16 to serve as an open or perforated paddle type mixer or stirrer to cooperate with the U-bolt 17 to prevent packing of mater-ial in the throat and churn or fluff the material just before it is discharged through the slot to spill off the periphery 11 of the plate 12.

The propeller 18 is in the form of a heavy chain secured as indicated at 24, to the outer end of a radius arm 25 xed, as indicated at 26, to the upper end portion of the shaft 16 to turn therewith, while the lower end of the chain is connected, as indicated at 27 in FIG. 1, with the upper end of a smaller chain 28 of relatively short length, the lower end of which is welded or otherwise suitably secured, :as indicated at 29, to the upper end of the paddle link 23, the length of chain 28 being equivalent to approximately 'half the radius of the container 6, whereas the heavy chain 18 is of a length equivalent to the height of the hopper from the radius arm 25 down to the -arcuate bottom 7 plus the other ihalf of the radius of said container, so that the two chains together can sweep the entire inside of the container and remove all material that might otherwise remain from the sides as well as the bottom, as should be evident from FIG.1. The light chain 28, being secured to the shaft 16 through the medium of the link 23 in the manner shown, functions mainly to prevent plugging or packing of material at the entrance to the throat 8 without giving rise to the objection of its dragging too much on the corner 30 dened between the upper end of the throat 8 and bottom '7 of the container at the entrance to the throat, las such dragging would eventually result in too much wear on the chain and container.

The dry diatomaceous earth feeder, while herein illustrated in connection with a float box and mixing chamber for production of a slurry for swimming pool filters, is not limited to such applications, as it will have many applications for the feeding of any dry powder whether it is put into a liquid slurry or merely mixed with or added to another dry powder or powders. That is the reason for considering the operation of this feeder by itself iirst before describing the rest of the assembly.

In operation, the chain 18, being fairly heavy, tends to hang vertically from the outer end of the radius arm 25 and therefore close enough to the side wall of the container 6 to insure sweeping all material therefrom, and likewise from the funnel-shaped bottom 7 over which the lower end portion of chain 18 also sweeps for at least half the radius of the container to the point of its connection 27 with the lighter smaller chain 28. The chain 28 sweeps the rest of the bottom of the container to remove any remaining material therefrom. At the start, right after the container has been filled wit-h dry diatomaceous earth and the chains 18 and 28 are disposed as shown in FIG. l, the rst few turns of the shaft 16 will automatically cause the excess portion of the length of chains 18 and 28 to be drawn inwardly and wrap around the shaft to define the auger 19, as illustrated in FlG. 2, it being assumed that the shaft turns in a counterclockwise direction as indicated by the arrow 31 in FIG. 2. The direction of rotation is, of course, immaterial, as the feeding of the material is the same with the shaft 16 turned in either direction. It is due to the slack in the chains 18 and 28 combined with the resistance to movement of the chains through the material that produces the novel operation illustrated, the Vchains wrapping around the shaft until all of the slack is taken up by the auger forming length indicated at 19 in FIG. 2. As a result of this -arrangement of the chains 18 and 28, the top of the bed is soon swept into a conical form, as indicated at 32 in FIG. 2, and a central passage or channel 33 is defined from the bottom of the funnel 32 down into the throat 8 as the chains continually sweep the surfaces at 32 and 33, material being scraped actually only from the conical surface 32 by the taut chain 18, and such material dropping down through the channel 33 into the throat 8, where the open or perforated paddle type mixer 23 and propeller 17 function together to churn and fluit the material preliminary to its discharge through the annular slot 1li. Obviously, the narrower this slot 10 is, the lower is the rate of ydischarge of the material per turn of the shaft 16, and, vice versa, if the taut angular upper portion 34 of the chain scrapes too much material for the auger 19 to handle and be delivered through the throat 8 for a given setting or calibration of the annular slot 18, resistance builds up by reason of the accumulation of material in the channel 33, so that the chain 18 accordingly tends to wrap up tighter on the shaft 16, thereby reducing pressure of the chain at 34 on the funnel-shaped top portion 32 of the bed 9 to reduce the amount of material scraped off, and making the device fully automatic and self-adjusting. When some of the material that accumulated in channel 33 has been discharged through the slot 10, the resistance to movement of the chain relative to the material is relieved, and the slackening chain, under the action of gravity, rubs again on top of the bed at 32 and scrapes off more material and continues to do so until resistance builds up again to cause the chain to again wound la little more tightly around the shaft. This method of feeding continues until the chain is finally completely unwrapped from the shaft and free to assume its normal position as seen in FIG. 1 when, of course, all of the material has been cleared out of the container, and it is time to rell it. There is no perceptible variation in the rate of discharge of the material so long as there is enough material left in the container for the chains 18 and 28 to operate upon in the manner described.

As shown in FIGS. 1-3, the container 6 is supported on three legs 35 in elevated relation to the floor 36 and these legs provide support for a table 37 below and in spaced parallel relation to the rotary plate 12 mentioned above. An electric motor drive unit 38 is suspended from the central portion of the table 37 and carries a diametrically slotted coupling 39 on the upper end of its armature shaft having a detachable driving connection with the rotary vertical shaft 16` to turn it and table 12 continuously throughout the operation of the feeder, a fan 40 mounted on the lower end of the motor housing being driven off the lower end of the armature shaft of the motor 38 to maintain an updraft of cool air past the motor throughout the period of its operation to prevent over-heating thereof despite its enclosure in the central opening 41 through the annular or doughnut shaped tank 42 that serves both as a float box or tank and mixing chamber in accordance with our invention. This tank 42 is suspended from the table 37 on brackets 43 and has a float 44 working therein, the arm thereof being pivoted to and operating a float valve 45 suitably secured to the table 37, as indicated at 46. Water is supplied to the float valve 45 through a tube 47 connected to the line 48, which, as will more clearly appear later, is connected on the one hand with the discharge side of a recirculating pump 50 and on the other hand is connected with the suction pipe 51 leading to the pump from the swimming pool, whereby to maintain the necessary pressure head for the proper functioning of an ejector 52 provided in the line 48 and drawing water from the bottom of the tank 42 as indicated at 53, this water being in the form of a slurry by reason of the mixing therewith of diatomaceous earth 9 in a predetermined and accurately measured amount in relation to the amount of water. An opening 54 is provided in the table 37 at a predetermined distance radially from the shaft 16 and rotary plate 12 so that diatomaceous earth discharged through the slot 10 between the table 12 and collar 13, when diverted by a stationary bar 55 that slides on the top surface of the rotary plate 12, will be discharged by gravity and directed in a steady fine stream through the opening 54 directly into the mixing chamber provided in the tank 42, adjacent the suction port leading into the outlet connection 53 previously mentioned, this relationship being nicely illustrated in FIG. 3. The bar 55 has a hollow collar 56pon its inner end that encircles the adjustable collar 13, the adjustment of which was previously described and predetermines the rate of discharge of the diatomaceous earth, the collar 56 having an opening 57 therein through which the earth from the slot is discharged as shown in FIG. 3 and, due to the angularity of the bar 55 with respect to a radius of the plate 12, the bar 55 being substantially tangential with respect to the collar S6, the diatomaceous earth is automatically discharged along the bar off the periphery of the plate 12 and drops by gravity through the opening 54, a vertical pin 58 in the table 37 forming an abutment for the outer end of the bar 55 to hold it against turning with the plate 12.

A rate-setting plug valve 59 in the line 4S is accurately adjusted to predetermine the rate of flow of water through the ejector 52 to entrain slurry from connection 53. Hand-operable gate valves are provided at 60 and 61 in the line 48 on opposite sides of the rate-set plug valve 59, and a check valve 62 is provided in the line near the suction pipe 51 only when the feeder is installed below the pool level, to prevent water from the pool backing up into the feeder. The level in the mixing chamber in tank 42 is maintained at a certain elevation by adjusting the rate-set plug 59. If the water level rises above the desired elevation, the rate-set plug 59 is opened slightly. On the other hand, if the level drops below a predetermined elevation, the rate-set plug 59 is closed slightly.

It is believed the foregoing description conveys a good understanding of the objects and advantages of our invention. The appended claims have been drawn to cover all legitimate modifications and adaptations.

i We claim:

1. In a device of the character described, the combination of an upright substantially cylindrical container having a funnel-shaped bottom portion with a discharge neck at the center thereof, a vertical shaft extending centrally through said container, a radius arm on the upper end portion of said shaft, a fiexible sweeper element connected to and arranged to extend downwardly from the outer end of said radius arm, when free to do so by gravity, inside said container in close proximity to the side wall to the bottom of said container and inwardly across and in contact with the hopper bottom and connected at its lower end to said shaft, and means for turning said shaft, said flexible sweeper element being adapted when the container contains a bed of granular material to wind its excess length around said shaft in the form of a helix of a variable length, measured from the lower end of said shaft, substantially equal to the depth of the bed, the wound length cooperating with the shaft to act as an auger to form a vertical substantially cylindrical channel in said bed at the center thereof concentric with said shaft while the upper end portion of said element extending radially to the outer end of said radius arm defines a generally conical depression in the upper end of said bed serving to sweep material therefrom to ow by gravity downwardly through the aforesaid channel for discharge at a steady, substantially uniform rate from said neck.

2. The combination as set forth in claim 1 including a substantially radial open projection on said shaft inside the neck for agitation of the material finding its way into said neck, whereby to prevent packing of the material in said neck and maintain a substantially steady and uniform iiow of such material through said neck.

3. The combination as set forth in claim 1 including a substantially radial open projection on said shaft inside the neck for agitation of the material finding its way into said neck, whereby to prevent packing of the material in said neck and maintain a substantially steady and uniform ow of such material through said neck, the lower end of the flexible sweeper element being connected to said shaft by means of said projection.

4. The combination as set forth in claim 1 including a substantially radial open projection on said shaft inside the neck for agitation of the material nding its way into said neck, whereby to prevent packing of the material in said neck and maintain a substantially steady and uniform flow of such material through said neck, there being another open projection in xed relationship to the first mentioned projection and extending upwardly therefrom in radially spaced relationship to said shaft intermediate the ends of said rst projection, said second projection reaching the upper region in said neck to further reduce any likelihood of packing of the material in said neck.

5. The combination as set forth in claim 1 including a substantially radial open projection on said shaft inside the neck for agitation of the material finding its way into said neck, whereby to prevent packing of the material in said neck and maintain a substantially steady and uniform flow of such material through said neck, there being another open projection in fixed relationship to the first mentioned projection and extending upwardly therefrom in radially spaced relationship to said shaft intermediate the ends of said first projection, said second projection reaching the upper region in said neck to further reduce any likelihood of packing of the material in said neck, the lower end of said fiexible sweeper element being connected with said shaft by means of said last mentioned projection.

6. The combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein the flexible sweeper element comprises a chain.

7. The combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein the flexible sweeper element comprises a chain, the major length of which is a relatively heavy chain reaching from the outer end of said radius arm downwardly to the bottom of said container and inwardly across at least a portion of the radius of the hopper bottom, there being another appreciably lighter chain connected with and extending from the lower end of the first chain to the point of connection with said shaft in said neck, whereby to reduce wear on the container at the junction of the neck and hopper bottom.

8. The combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein the flexible sweeper element comprises a chain, the major length of which is a relatively heavy chain reaching from the outer end of said radius arm downwardly to the bottom of said container and inwardly across at least a portion of the radius of the hopper bottom, there being another appreciably lighter chain connected with and extending from the lower end of the first chain to the point of connection with said shaft in said neck, whereby to reduce wear on the container at the junction of the neck and hopper bottom, the device including a generally U- shaped stirrer element rigid with said shaft and extending radially therefrom in a substantially vertical plane inside said neck and at an elevation intermediate the ends of the latter, the lower end of the lighter chain being connected to said shaft by means of said U-shaped element.

9. The combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein the flexible sweeper element comprises a chain, the major length of which is a relatively heavy chain reaching from the outer end of said radius arm downwardly to the bottom of said container and inwardly across at least a portion of the radius of the hopper bottom, there being another appreciably lighter chain connected with and extending from the lower end of the first chain to the point of connection with said shaft in said neck, whereby to reduce wear on the container at the junction of the neck and hopper bottom, the device including a generally U- shaped stirrer element rigid with said shaft and extending radially therefrom in a substantially vertical plane inside said neck and at an elevation intermediate the ends of the latter, and another stirrer element in the form of a substantially vertical loop rigid with the upper portion of said U-shaped element intermediate the ends thereof and having the lower end of the lighter chain connected to said shaft by means of said loop.

10. In a device of the character described, the combination of an upright substantially cylindrical container having a funnel-shaped bottom portion with a discharge neck at the center thereof, a vertical shaft extending centrally through said container and down through said neck and supported for rotation, means for turning said shaft, means on said shaft which in the turning thereof dislodges material stored in the container about said shaft for discharge through said neck, a substantially horizontal plate turning with said shaft in closely spaced relation to the lower end of said neck to dene with the latter an annular discharge orifice, a first collar adjustable axially on and with respect to said neck and relative to said plate to vary the width of said annular orifice and thereby regulate the rate of discharge of the material, a second collar surrounding the lower end portion of the first collar and resting on said plate, said second collar having a lateral discharge opening, and a scraper arm rigid with and extending from said second collar to direct the material discharged from said opening in a stream from the periphery of said plate.

11. In a device of the character described, the combination of an upright substantially cylindrical container having a funnel-shaped bottom portion with a discharge neck at the center thereof, a vertical shaft extending centrally through said container and down through said neck and supported for rotation, means for turning said shaft, means on said shaft which in the turning thereof dislodges material stored in the container about said shaft for discharge through said neck, a substantially horizontal plate turning with said shaft in closely spaced relation to the lower end of said neck to define with the latter an annular discharge orifice, a rst collar adjustable axially on and with respect to said neck and relative to said plate to vary the width of said annular orice and thereby regulate the rate of discharge of the material, a second collar surrounding the lower end portion of the first collar and resting on said plate, said second collar having a lateral discharge opening, a scraper arm rigid with and extending from said second collar to direct the material discharged from said opening in a stream from the periphery of said plate, and a mixing chamber disposed below the discharge point of said plate to receive the stream of material discharged and dropping by gravity from the periphery of said plate, said chamber having other material delivered thereto for mixing with the lirst mentioned material, the mixture so formed being then discharged from said chamber.

12. In a device of the character described, the combination of an upright substantially cylindrical container having a funnel-shaped bottom portion with a discharge neck at the center thereof, a vertical shaft extending centrally through said container and down through said neck and supported for rotation, means for turning said shaft, means on said shaft which in the turning thereof dislodges material stored in the container about said shaft for discharge through said neck, a substantially horizontal plate turning with said shaft in closely spaced relation to the lower end Iof said neck to dene with the latter an annular discharge orifice, means directing the material from said plate to drop in a single stream from the periphery of said plate, a substantially horizontal support mounted below and in a fixed spaced relationship of to said plate and having an opening provided therein through which the stream of material is discharged by gravity downwardly, an open top ring-shaped container for liquid suspended from said support in a position to receive the stream of material into a mixing chamber in one portion thereof for mixing with liquid therein, means for delivering liquid to the mxing chamber in said ring-shaped contaner, means for withdrawing from the mixing chamber, the slurry formed by the mixing of the material with the liquid in said container, and an electric motor suspended from said support in the space in the central portion of said ring-shaped container and having a driving connection with the lower end of the aforesaid shaft.

13. A device as set forth in claim 12, including a fan driven by said motor and operating therebeneath in the same space with the motor to circulate air upwardly past the motor and out between the ring-shaped tank and the bottom of said support.

14. A device as set forth in claim 12, including a float and float operated valve connected to said liquid delivering means for controlling the delivery of liquid to said ring-shaped container, whereby to maintain a predetermined level of liquid therein.

15. In a device of the character described, the combination of an upright substantially cylindrical container having a funnel-shaped bottom portion with a discharge neck at the center thereof, a vertical shaft extending centrally through said container and down through said neck and supported for rotation, means for turning said shaft, means on said shaft which in the turning thereof dislodges material stored in the container about said shaft for discharge through said neck, a substantially horizontal plate turning with said shaft in closely spaced relation to the lower end of said neck to define with the latter an annular discharge orifice, a first collar adjustable axially on and with respect to said neck and relative to said plate to vary the width of said annular orifice and thereby regulate the rate of discharge of the material, a second collar surrounding the lower end portion of the first collar and resting on said plate, said second collar having a lateral discharge opening, a scraper arm rigid with and extending from said second collar to direct the material discharged from said opening in a stream from the periphery of said plate, a substantially horizontal support mounted below and in a fixed spaced relationship to said plate and having an opening provided therein through which the stream of material is discharged by gravity downwardly, an open top ring-shaped container for liquid suspended from said support in a position to receive the stream of material into a mixing chamber in one portion thereof for mixing with liquid therein, means for delivering liquid to the mixing chamber in said ring-shaped container, means for withdrawing from the mixing chamber the slurry formed by the mixing of the material with the liquid in said container, and an electric motor suspended from said support in the space in the central portionof said ring-shaped container and having a driving connection with the lower end of the aforesaid shaft, said support having a lstop projection provided thereon extending upwardly therefrom alongside the periphery of said plate, and the scraper arm abutting said stop projection to prevent turning of the second collar with said plate.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 55,872 6/ 66 Hutchinson 222-285 X 469,370 2/92 Cutts 222-406 yX 636,370 11/99 Wetmore 222-56 X 1,543,915 6/25 Green 222-228 2,228,421 1/41 Taylor 222-406 X 2,533,852 12/50 Tietig 222-56 X 2,569,486 10/51 Mills.

2,934,037 4/60 Ernest 222-406 X 3,037,713 6/ 62 Carroll 222-228 X FOREIGN PATENTS 1,083,207 l/55 France. 1,146,448 ll/57 France.

LOUIS J. DEMBO, Primary Examiner.

Claims

12. IN A DEVICE OF THE CHARACTER DESCRIBED, THE COMBINATION OF AN UPRIGHT SUBSTANTIALLY CYLINDRICAL CONTAINER HAVING A FUNNEL-SHAPED BOTTOM PORTION WITH A DISCHARGE NECK AT THE CENTER THEREOF, A VERTICAL SHAFT EXTENDING CENTRALLY THROUGH SAID CONTAINER AND DOWN THROUGH SAID NECK AND SUPPORTED FOR ROTATION, MEANS FOR TURNING SAID SHAFT, MEANS ON SAID SHAFT WHICH IN THE TURNING THEREOF DISLODGES MATERIAL STORED IN THE CONTAINER ABOUT SAID SHAFT FOR DISCHARGE THROUGH SAID NECK, A SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL PLATE TURNING WITH SAID SHAFT IN CLOSELY SPACED RELATION TO THE LOWER END OF SAID NECK TO DEFINE WITH THE LATTER AN ANNULAR DISCHARGE ORIFICE, MEANS DIRECTING THE MATERIAL FROM SAID PLATE TO DROP IN A SINGLE STREAM FROM THE PERIPHERY OF SAID PLATE, A SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONIAL SUPPORT MOUNTED BELOW AND IN A FIXED SPACED RELATIONSHIP OF TO SAID PLATE AND HAVING AN OPENING PROVIDED THEREIN THROUGH WHICH THE STREAM OF MATERIAL IS DISCHARGED BY GRAVITY DOWNWARDLY, AN OPEN TOP RING-SHAPED CONTAINER FOR LIQUID SUSPENDED FROM SAID SUPPORT IN A POSITION TO RECEIVE THE STREAM OF MATERIAL INTO A MIXING CHAMBER IN ONE PORTION THEREOF THE MIXING WITH LIQUID THEREIN, MEANS FOR DELIVERING LIQUID TO THE MIXING CHAMBER IN SAID RING-SHAPED CONTAINER, MEANS FOR WITHDRAWING FROM THE MIXING CHAMBER, THE SLURRY FORMED BY THE MIXING OF THE MATERIAL WITH THE LIQUID IN SAID CONTAINER, AND AN ELECTRIC MOTOR SUSPENDED FROM SAID SUPPORT IN THE SPACE IN THE CENTRAL PORTION OF SAID RING-SHAPED CONTAINER AND HAVING A DRIVING CONNECTION WITH THE LOWER END OF THE AFORESAID SHAFT.