Abstract: A pivoting gate valve assembly includes a seat plate with an orifice therethrough, a stop plate and a gate. The stop plate is mounted on the seat plate and borders a portion of the orifice. The gate is pivotably mounted to the seat plate and pivots to a closed position against the stop plate and covering the orifice. The gate and the stop plate form a substantially flush contiguous surface when in the closed position.

Abstract: An apparatus for conveying powder. The apparatus includes a hopper for receiving powder, a mechanical conveyor, a sifter and a ribbon blender. The mechanical conveyor delivers powder from the hopper to the sifter. The ribbon blender, which is situated below the sifter for receiving powder from the sifter, has two or more outlets for discharging powder.

Abstract: A dry solids separator is described for removing powdery materials from a gas stream without a substantial overall pressure drop as said stream passes through the separator. The separator consists of a plurality of mutually spaced baffle plates disposed as at an angle to the inlet of the separator. Each plate consists of a plurality of mutually spaced channel shaped baffles opening into the gas stream and defining between adjacent baffles vertical slit nozzles. The channel shaped nozzles are also staggered so that the next adjacent downstream baffle will be behind an upstream nozzle.

Abstract: An improved method for handling and transporting thermoplastic materials such as chewing gum base is disclosed. Chewing gum base, formulated as a hot viscous blend, is initially extruded and then pelletized. The pellets are subsequently cooled in a liquid medium such as water. Instead of drying the pellets and coating the pellets with a lubricating powder for packaging and shipment, a slurry of the cooling medium and pellets is conveyed to bulk containers or railroad tank cars for transport to the customer-user, a chewing gum manufacturer. By transporting in a liquid the tendency of the tacky pellets to agglomerate is eliminated, and the prior steps of drying and coating the pellets with a lubricating power are unnecessary. The customer-user, in the case of chewing gum base, furthermore, does not have to separate agglomerated pellets before use, and the pellets need only be strained and conveyed directly to a blender for formulation into chewing gum compositions.