Patent ID: 6976713

Claim:
An apparatus for use in applying granular material to a rail adjacent to a wheel of a train, said apparatus comprising a housing adapted to be connected with a portion of the train and with a granular material supply, a mixing chamber disposed in said housing, said mixing chamber having an upper portion through which granular material from the granular material supply enters said mixing chamber and a lower portion in which granular material accumulates, an air inlet which directs a flow of air into the mixing chamber at a location above the lower portion of the mixing chamber, and a venturi having an inlet disposed above the lower portion of said mixing chamber, said venturi having an outlet which is connected in fluid communication with a nozzle which directs a flow of the granular material toward the rail during the flow of air from said air inlet to the mixing chamber and from the mixing chamber to said inlet to said venturi, said venturi cooperating with the flow of air from said air inlet to induce an upward flow of the granular material from the lower portion of the mixing chamber into said inlet to said venturi.