Patent ID: 8800825

Claim:
A system for conveying a fibrous or strand-type material comprising: a hopper for storing a fibrous or strand-type material, the hopper having a first opening for receiving material and a second opening for releasing material; a first rotatable pulley having a diameter and a width; a movable belt, coupled to the first rotatable pulley, having a length and a width, the belt disposed below the second opening of the hopper, an upper surface of the belt being adjacent to the second opening of the hopper and arranged to move material that has been released through the second opening of the hopper, wherein the upper surface of the belt is located in its entirety outside and below the hopper with a gap between the second opening of the hopper and the upper surface of the belt; a belt motor to move the upper surface of the belt in a first direction; a first rotating drum disposed above the upper surface of the belt, the first rotating drum comprising one or more projections having a preselected length and being coupled directly on one end to the outside periphery of the first rotating drum, wherein the shortest distance from the outside periphery of the first rotating drum to the upper surface of the belt is a first predetermined distance, the first rotating drum substantially limiting the travel of material on the upper surface of the belt higher than the first predetermined distance; and a rotating shaft, located a distance from the first rotating drum in the first direction, the rotating shaft being disposed above the upper surface of the belt and proximate to a discharge point, the rotating shaft comprising one or more flow smoothing pickers having preselected lengths, being coupled on one end to the outside periphery of the rotating shaft and being arranged in a spiraling configuration directed toward the center of the belt.