Patent ID: 8727182

Claim:
An apparatus for effecting flow conveyance of particulate material from a hopper, said apparatus comprising: a hopper that facilitates receipt and storage of said particulate material, said hopper having a longitudinal axis, a wall, an infeed end for receipt of said particulate material in said hopper and an outfeed end for conveyance of said particulate material from said hopper, wherein said longitudinal axis extends between said infeed end and said outfeed end, and said hopper has an outfeed aperture at said outfeed end; and a base disposed proximate said outfeed end wherein at least a portion of said base is coextensive with said outfeed aperture, and said base has at least one base aperture defined therethrough to facilitate said conveyance of said particulate material from said hopper, wherein the movement of particulate material is unobstructed in said hopper; wherein at least one of said base and said hopper is rotatable relative to the other of said base and said hopper through multiple revolutions, wherein said rotation is effected relative to an axis of rotation that is parallel to said longitudinal axis of said hopper, such that said base aperture is at least in intermittent particulate flow communication with said outfeed aperture, and apparatus is configured so that said rotation is at a speed in which particulate material flows through said outfeed aperture faster than it would flow by gravity alone.