Patents Represented by Attorney, Agent or Law Firm Wm. Brook Lafferty Troutman Sanders LLP
  • Patent number: 6471447
    Abstract: An improved rotary air lock feeder. The improved device includes a cylinder having a central axis. A plurality of vanes extending radially outward to rotate in the cylinder about the axis. A hopper communicates with the cylinder through an inlet located in an upper portion of the cylinder. The present invention permits flow of material from the hopper to the cylinder without the use of a worm conveyor positioned in the bottom of the hopper. A pair of offset openings extend from the upper portion of the cylinder along each side of a vertical plane extending from the axis. The offset openings communicate with the cylinder to intermittently provide inter-chamber communication at each said offset opening.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 9, 2001
    Date of Patent: October 29, 2002
    Inventor: Frank Salley