Patent ID: 7241080

Claim:
A pump for transferring particulate material from a source of particulate material to a remote location, comprising: a particulate chamber having a first open end and a second open end; a first conduit connecting said first open end of said particulate chamber to said source of particulate material and a second conduit connecting said second open end of said particulate chamber to said remote location; a first check valve at said first open end and a second check valve at said second open end of said particulate chamber; a source of vacuum connected to said particulate chamber adjacent said second open end; a source of gas under pressure connected to said particulate chamber adjacent said first open end; and a control, alternately (1) connecting said source of vacuum to said particulate chamber, thereby opening said first check valve, closing said second check valve and drawing a vacuum in said particulate chamber filling said particulate chamber with particulate material from said source of particulate material through said first conduit; (2) connecting said source of gas under pressure to said particulate chamber, thereby closing said first check valve, opening said second check valve and driving said particulate material from said particulate chamber to said remote location through said second conduit; and (3) cyclically repeating steps (1) and (2) to transfer discreet volumes of particulate material from said source of particulate material to said remote location.