Patent ID: 8342117

Claim:
A coating apparatus, comprising: a binder coating unit comprising a coating chamber defined by a cylindrical shell, coating chamber stirring and conveying means mounted in the coating chamber along a longitudinal direction of the coating chamber for rotation and adapted to be rotationally driven for conveyance of grains in the coating chamber in its longitudinal direction while stirring the grains, and a nozzle for spraying liquid binder onto the grains transferred to the coating chamber to coat surfaces of the grains with binder; a powdered material adhering unit comprising an adhering chamber defined by a cylindrical shell, adhering chamber stirring and conveying means mounted in the adhering chamber along a longitudinal direction of the adhering chamber for rotation and adapted to be rotationally driven for conveyance of grains having the binder thereon through the adhering chamber in its longitudinal direction while stirring the grains having the binder thereon, and a metering feeder for adding powdered material to the grains having the binder thereon; and a drying unit comprising a drying chamber comprised of a permeable cylindrical screen, drying unit stirring means mounted in the drying chamber along a longitudinal direction of the drying chamber for rotation and adapted to be rotationally driven to convey the grains through the drying chamber in its longitudinal direction while stirring the grains after the grains have been transferred from said adhering unit to the drying chamber, a blow passage for blowing hot air into the drying chamber to dry the grains, and an exhaust passage for exhausting the hot air from the drying chamber.