Patent ID: 7845516

Claim:
A system for precisely controlling a discharge rate of a discharged product comprising: a feeder bin having an internal chamber; a dry mix of material disposed in the internal chamber of the feeder bin; a discharge device that receives a portion of the dry mix of material and operates at an adjustable speed to discharge said portion of the dry mix of material from the feeder; a measurement system that continually makes a measurement indicative of a weight of the feeder bin; and a control system that receives an input discharge rate setpoint, an input of a calibration curve comprising a representation of a speed of operation of the discharge device as a function of a discharge rate of the dry mix of material, and a feedback signal indicative of the weight of the feeder bin, wherein the control system calculates a theoretical speed of operation based on the input discharge rate setpoint and the calibration curve, determines an actual discharge rate based on the measurement indicative of the weight of the feeder bin, calculates a correction factor that is equal to the input charge rate setpoint divided by the actual discharge rate, calculates a speed setpoint that is equal to the theoretical speed of operation multiplied by the correction factor, and automatically adjusts the adjustable speed of the discharge device based on the calculated speed setpoint in order to precisely control the discharge rate of the discharged dry mix of material.