Abstract: A system for handling fluent solid material includes a material collecting hopper having a bottom provided with several discharge openings, ducts for delivering material from all the discharge openings into a transfer hopper that has one or more bottom outlets. An upright feed conduit with a feed valve is connected to each bottom outlet. If there are two or more bottom outlets at least one may connect to a bypass conduit with a bypass feed valve. A moistening chamber receives liquid at a controlled rate, and material from a feed conduit goes directly into the moistening chamber while material from a bypass conduit does not. Each conduit is provided with a material flow transducer that controls the position of the feed valve in response to the sensed volume of material flowing through the conduit so as to closely control the rate at which material flows from the conduit. Each feed valve or bypass feed valve may be closed so as to load a transport vehicle either with dry material or with moistened material.

Abstract: A pulverulent material flow transducer has a frame that mounts on the exterior of a conduit in a pulverulent material transporting system. A load cell in the frame includes a sealed chamber one side of which is formed by a resilient control diaphragm, and communicating with the chamber are an air inlet pipe for admitting air at a constant pressure to the chamber, an air outlet pipe, and a bleed nozzle the inner end of which is so related to the control diaphragm as to provide an orifice for the bleed nozzle the area of which is varied by movement of the control diaphragm. A sensor member pivoted in a sealed hole in the conduit has a sensing arm to sense the volume of material flowing through the conduit and a force arm which acts through a guided piston rod and piston to move the control diaphragm and thus vary the bleed nozzle orifice in proportion to the volume of material passing through the conduit.

Abstract: A drag bucket apparatus for separating pieces of solid material from liquid in a rectangular receiving tank includes driven trolleys that move along the longitudinal tank walls to pull a drag bucket along the tank from a start end to a dump end. If the drag bucket encounters excessive resistance during a pickup run, a pickup level control automatically raises the bucket incrementally to eliminate such excessive resistance; and when the trolleys near the dump end of the tank the bucket is automatically elevated to a discharge level and when the bucket is at the dump end its load of material is automatically dumped onto a material support out of the liquid. The drag bucket is then lowered and returned to the start end for another pickup run which may begin at once, or which may be delayed depending upon the conditions encountered during the last preceding pickup run.