Dense phase pump for dry particulate material

Abstract

A dense phase pump for particulate material includes a pump chamber wherein material flows into the pump chamber under negative pressure and flows out of the pump chamber under positive pressure. A plurality of pinch valves are provided to control flow of material into and out of the pump chamber. The pinch valves are operated independent of each other and of the pump cycle rate. A modular design of the pump is provided.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application claims the benefit of pending U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 60 / 524,459 filed on Nov. 24, 2003, for PINCH PUMP WITH VACUUM TUBE the entire disclosure of which is fully incorporated herein by reference.TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The invention relates generally to material application systems, for example but not limited to powder coating material application systems. More particularly, the invention relates to a pump that reduces cleaning time, color change time and improves convenience of use. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] Material application systems are used to apply one or more materials in one or more layers to an object. General examples are powder coating systems, other particulate material application systems such as may be used in the food processing and chemical industries. These are but a few examples of a wide and numerous variety of systems used to apply particulate materials to an object. [0004...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0011] Cleanability of the pump refers to reducing the quantity of material that needs to be purged or otherwise removed from interior surfaces that define the material flow path through the pump, as well as simplifying the purging process by making the material flow path more amenable to purge cleaning. Improving cleanability results in faster color change times, for example, by reducing contamination risk and shortening the amount of time needed to remove a first color powder from the pump prior to introducing a second color powder.

[0019] In an alternative embodiment of a scalable material flow rate control process, flow rate control is effected independent of the pump cycle rate by controlling the suction time portion of the pump cycle rate. This allows for control of the flow rate with or without independent control of the suction and delivery pinch valves. In accordance with another aspect of the invention, flow rate control by use of the suction time, in combination with control of the pinch valves, allows the suction time to be adjusted so as to occur during the middle of the pump cycle to prevent overlap between the suction and delivery valve on times, thereby reducing the amount of pressurized air needed to operate the pump.

Problems solved by technology

The application of dry particulate material is especially challenging on a number of different levels.

Wear items that have surfaces exposed to material impact, for example a spray nozzle in a typical powder spray gun, can be difficult to clean due to impact fusion of the powder on the wear surfaces.

Pumps also tend to have one or more wear surfaces that are difficult to clean by purging due to impact fusion.

Conventional venturi pumps can be purged in the direction of the gun, but are difficult to reverse purge back to the supply.

In order to achieve adequate powder flow rates (in pounds per minute or pounds per hour for example), the components that make up the flow path must be large enough to accommodate the flow with such high air to material (in other words lean flow) otherwise significant back pressure and other deleterious effects can occur.

The overall pump, however, in some cases may be less than optimal for purging, cleaning, color change, maintenance and material flow rate control.

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