Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US7997878?ie=ISO-8859-1
Timestamp: 2014-11-26 18:49:48
Document Index: 290587439

Matched Legal Cases: ['Application No. 04811742', 'Application No. 04811742', 'Application No. 04811742', 'Application No. 09161262', 'Application No. 2006', 'application No. 09161262', 'Application No. 2006', 'Application No. 04811742']

Patent US7997878 - Dense phase powder pump with single ended flow and purge - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign inAdvanced Patent SearchPatentsA dense phase pump for particulate material includes a pump chamber wherein material flows into the pump chamber under negative pressure and flows out of the pump chamber under positive pressure. A plurality of pinch valves are provided to control flow of material into and out of the pump chamber. The...http://www.google.com/patents/US7997878?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US7997878 - Dense phase powder pump with single ended flow and purgeAdvanced Patent SearchPublication numberUS7997878 B2Publication typeGrantApplication numberUS 12/407,929Publication dateAug 16, 2011Filing dateMar 20, 2009Priority dateNov 24, 2003Also published asCA2544514A1, CA2544514C, CA2834951A1, CN1886200A, CN100503053C, CN101559415A, CN101559415B, DE202004021621U1, DE202004021629U1, DE602004021416D1, EP1689531A1, EP1689531B1, EP2095881A2, EP2095881A3, EP2095881B1, US8057197, US8333570, US8678777, US20050158187, US20090142200, US20090180898, US20110076159, US20130078117, US20140169990, WO2005051549A1Publication number12407929, 407929, US 7997878 B2, US 7997878B2, US-B2-7997878, US7997878 B2, US7997878B2InventorsTerrence M. FulkersonOriginal AssigneeNordson CorporationExport CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (31), Non-Patent Citations (12), Referenced by (2), Classifications (10) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetDense phase powder pump with single ended flow and purgeUS 7997878 B2Abstract A dense phase pump for particulate material includes a pump chamber wherein material flows into the pump chamber under negative pressure and flows out of the pump chamber under positive pressure. A plurality of pinch valves are provided to control flow of material into and out of the pump chamber. The pinch valves are operated independent of each other and of the pump cycle rate. A modular design of the pump is provided.
13. The pump of claim 12 wherein a plurality of ports that are connectable for pneumatic pressure to operate said valves and said pump chamber are disposed in a common plane and connectable to a pneumatic supply manifold. Description
RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a divisional of pending U.S. Ser. No. 10/711,429 filed on Sep. 17, 2004, for DENSE PHASE PUMP FOR DRY PARTICULATE MATERIAL, which claims the benefit of pending U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/524,459 filed on Nov. 24, 2003, for PINCH PUMP WITH VACUUM TUBE the entire disclosures of which is fully incorporated herein by reference.
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention relates generally to material application systems, for example but not limited to powder coating material application systems. More particularly, the invention relates to a pump that reduces cleaning time, color change time and improves convenience of use.
Dense phase systems on the other hand are characterized by a high material to air ratio (in other words a �rich� flow). A dense phase pump is described in pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/501,693 filed on Jul. 16, 2004 for PROCESS AND EQUIPMENT FOR THE CONVEYANCE OF POWDERED MATERIAL, the entire disclosure of which is fully incorporated herein by reference, and which is owned by the assignee of the present invention. This pump is characterized in general by a pump chamber that is partially defined by a gas permeable member. Material, such as powder coating material as an example, is drawn into the chamber at one end by gravity and/or negative pressure and is pushed out of the chamber through an opposite end by positive air pressure. This pump design is very effective for transferring material, in part due to the novel arrangement of a gas permeable member forming part of the pump chamber. The overall pump, however, in some cases may be less than optimal for purging, cleaning, color change, maintenance and material flow rate control.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention provides apparatus and methods for improving the cleanability and serviceability of a pump for particulate material, such as, for example but not by way of limitation, powder coating material. The invention also contemplates apparatus and methods for improving material flow rate control using a dense phase pump. The invention further contemplates methods and apparatus for dense phase transfer with a pump concept that can be reverse or upstream purged to the source as well as forward or downstream purged to an applicator. In accordance with another aspect of the invention, method and apparatus for a dense phase pump are contemplated that provide more than one purge function, such as for example, a soft purge and a hard purge, both optionally applied in a forward or reverse purge direction.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION AND EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS THEREOF The invention contemplates a number of new aspects for a dense phase pump for particulate material. The pump may be used in combination with any number or type of spray applicator devices or spray guns and material supply.
As is known, the part P is suspended from an overhead conveyor 14 using hangers 16 or any other conveniently suitable arrangements. The booth 12 includes one or more openings 18 through which one or more spray applicators 20 may be used to apply coating material to the part P as it travels through the booth 12. The applicators 20 may be of any number depending on the particular design of the overall system 10. Each applicator can be a manually operated device as with device 20 a, or a system controlled device, referred to herein as an automatic applicator 20 b, wherein the term �automatic� simply refers to the fact that an automatic applicator is mounted on a support and is triggered on and off by a control system, rather than being manually supported and manually triggered. The present invention is directed to manual and automatic spray applicators.
It is common in the powder coating material application industry to refer to the powder applicators as powder spray guns, and with respect to the exemplary embodiments herein we will use the terms applicator and gun interchangeably. However, it is intended that the invention is applicable to material application devices other than powder spray guns, and hence the more general term applicator is used to convey the idea that the invention can be used in many particulate material application systems other than the exemplary powder coating material application system described herein. Some aspects of the invention are likewise applicable to electrostatic spray guns as well as non-electrostatic spray guns. The invention is also not limited by functionality associated with the word �spray�. Although the invention is especially suited to powder spray application, the pump concepts and methods disclosed herein may find use with other material application techniques beyond just spraying, whether such techniques are referred to as dispensing, discharge, application or other terminology that might be used to describe a particular type of material application device.
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