US3490391A - Feeder - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 20, 1970 c. w. VOGT 3,490,391

FEEDER Filed Dec. 14, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 516.1 I 3 IO 6O INVENTOR C LARENC E W. VOGT 72 MM. @m,m%%@ w ATTORNEYS C. W. VOGT FEEDER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 14, 1966 ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,490,391 FEEDER Clarence W. Vogt, Box 232, Westport, Conn. 06880 Filed Dec. 14, 1966, Ser. No. 601,792

Int. Cl. A210 3/10 US. Cl. 10715 15 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This subject has to do with a feeder which includes a pocketed rotor which continuously rotates and presents the pockets thereof first to an inlet of a housing in which the rotor is mounted for rotation and then to an outlet of that housing. A valve structure is provided for effecting fluid flow into and out of the pockets from the interior of the rotor whereby a vacuum may be drawn in the pockets to pull material into the pockets and to also draw out some of the gases present in the material, and thereafter compressed gases are forced into the pockets to drive the material out of the pockets, the surface of the pockets contacted by the material having a high release coefficient with respect to the material being handled.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in feeders, and more particularly to continuous feeders having a rotor assembly rotatably mounted within a housing, with the rotor assembly having pockets which are sequentially presented to an inlet of the housing and then to an outlet thereof.

A principal feature of this invention resides in the construction of the rotor assembly and more particularly in the forming of the pockets of the rotor assembly with a material which not only may be of an open mesh construction so as to permit the passage of gases and graded in size to prevent the passage of particles of the material being handled, but also which presents a surface having a high release coeflicient with respect to the material being handled, so as to prevent sticking of material to the pockets. A further requirement of the material is that it is relatively inexpensive. In the past, I have formed the pockets of rotor assemblies for feeders of sintered materials including stainless steel and polyethylene. While these materials are excellent filters, there is a tendency for material being handled by the feeder, particularly relatively sticky materials, such as bread dough, to stick the surface of the sintered materials. In addition, the cost of the sintered materials has been very high.

It is, therefore, a primary object of this invention to provide a novel pocket forming member which may be readily varied in construction in accordance with the material being handled and which principally consists of a wire screen basket-like member which may be readily anchored within a recess in a rotor and which may have the openings therein graded in accordance with the material :being handled, and wherein the basket-like member may be supplemented by either a second basket-like member of finer mesh, a fabric material, or both, in accordance with the particle size of the material being handled.

Another object of this invention is to provide a novel pocket forming filter member for a rotor of a continuous feeder which is formed of a relatively inexpensive material, which has the necessary filter characteristics and wherein at least the exposed surface thereof has a high release coefficient. I have found that a woven cloth wherein the strands thereof running in at least one direction are formed of Teflon TFE, which is a tetrafluoroethylene polymer, or like materials having release c0- efiicient characteristics, to be sufficiently inexpensive and at the same time to perform the necessary function.

Another feature of this invention is the use of a bandlike strip of material in the securement of the pocket forming members to the rotor, the band-like strip of material having an outer surface having a high release coeflicient and which also provides an effective seal between the rotor and an associated housing.

A further feature of this invention is to provide a divider for cohesive material which includes a housing having an inlet and a rotor assembly rotating within the housing, the rotor assembly having pockets which are sequentially presented to th inlet, and there being mounted within the inlet at one side thereof in the direction of rotation of the rotor a feed roller which closely opposes the rotor assembly in contacting relation, there being means for driving the opposed surfaces of the rotor assembly and the feed roller in a like direction whereby material in the inlet is squeezed into the rotor pockets and material within the rotor pockets is separated from the material in the inlet as a rotor pocket passes out of alignment with the inlet.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a novel valve forming stator member for use in combination with a rotating rotor assembly, the stator having a cross section generally resembling a dumbbell and being provided at the opposite ends thereof with end plates, the stator having pairs of grooves extending axially therealong and opening into the end plates and each end plate having an annular groove connecting the ends of each pair of grooves, and there being a single continuous sealingmember seated in each pair of axially extending grooves and the associated pair of annular grooves to form a complete seal between the stator and the rotor around a pas sage formed between the stator and the rotor.

With the above and other objects in view that will hereinafter appear, the nature of the invention will be more clearly understood by reference to the following detailed description, the appended claims and the several views illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a feeder formed in accordance with this invention and shows generally the details thereof, portions being broken away and shown in section.

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of blank elements from which a pocket forming element is formed.

FIGURE 3 is an exploded perspective view of a pocket forming member and a portion of a retainer for holding the same within the rotor.

FIGURE 4 is a vertical sectional view taken through the feeder along the line 44 of FIGURE 1 and shows the specific details thereof.

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken through the feeder along line 55 of FIGURE 4 and shows further the details thereof.

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken through a portion of the rotor along the line 66 of FIGURE 5 and shows specifically the details of one of the pockets.

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged fragmentary elevational view of a portion of one of the pockets and shows specifically the details of its pocket forming member.

FIGURE 8 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken through the rotor along the line 8-8 of FIGURE 6 and shows further the details of the rotor pocket.

FIGURE 9 is an enlarged sectional view taken through one of the screen wires and shows the coating thereon.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, it will be seen that there is illustrated in FIGURES 1, 4 and 5, in particular, a feeder which is formed in accordance with this invention, the feeder being generally referred to by the numeral 10. At this time, it is pointed out that the term feeder is intended to cover a mechanism which Will function to move a product from a supply source to a delivery point and in doing so, it may function as a divider in certain instances, as a filler in other instances, and a mixer in still further instances.

Basically, the feeder 10 includes a housing 11, a rotor assembly 12 mounted within the housing for continuous rotation, and a valve assembly 13. It is to be understood that the construction of the rotor assembly 12 and the surfaces contacted thereby and by a product delivered to the rotor assembly constitute the major features of this invention, and therefore, other features of the feeder 10 have been only schematically illustrated for purposes of simplicity.

The housing 11 has been simply illustrated as including a body 14 of rectangular form which has the opposite ends thereof closed by plates 15 and 16. The body 14 has a cylindrical opening 17 therein in which the rotor assembly 12 is mounted. The body 14 is configurated to define an inlet 18 and an outlet 20.

The valve assembly is carried by the end plate 15 and includes a mounting plate 21 which is removably secured to the end plate 15 by means of fasteners 22. The valve assembly 13 also includes a stator 23 which is generally of a dumbbell configuration in section, as is clearly shown in FIGURE 4. The stator 23 is suitably secured to the plate 21 in any desired manner, including being integrally formed therewith, and generally projects through the housing 11. At the end of the stator 23 remote from the plate 21 there is a second plate 24 which is shown to be formed separately from the stator 23, but which also could be integrally formed therewith.

The rotor assembly 12 includes a rigid rotor 25 which is preferably carried by a separately formed tubular shaft portion 26 projecting from opposite ends thereof. It is to be noted that the rotor 25 has a relatively snug fit within the opening 17 in the body while the tubular shaft 26 has a relatively snug fit with respect to the valve assembly 13. This is clearly shown in FIGURE 5.

It is to be understood that the tubular shaft 26 may be journalled within the housing 11 about the valve assembly 13 in any desired manner, including the utilization of bearing type supports, although none are shown. The tubular shaft 26 is coupled toa drive shaft 27 by means of a sutiable coupling 28 which preferably provides a resilient connection between the shaft 27 and the tubular support 26. The rotor 25 has formed in the outer periphery thereof a plurality of recesses 30 which are preferably evenly spaced about the periphery of the rotor 25. While only one row of recesses 30 has been illustrated, it is to be understood that the rotor may be provided with everal rows of recesses 30. In each of the recesses 30 there is positioned a pocket forming member which is generally referred to by the numeral 31. The details of the pocket forming member 31 and the cooperation there of with the recesses 30 will be described in more detail hereinafter.

It will be noted from FIGURES 6 and 8 in particular that the recesses 30 are so configurated whereby for the most part the pocket forming members 31 are spaced from the walls thereof. Thus, air and other gases may freely flow around the pocket forming members 31.

As is clearly shown in FIGURE 5, the rotor 25 is provided with a pair of passages 32 which extend radially in- Wardly from the base of each recess 30 and in alignment with a pair of ports 33 extending axially through the tubular shaft 26. Thus, there is freedom of fluid flow between the interior of the tubular shaft 26 and the recesses 30, as controlled by the valve assembly 13.

Referring now to FIGURES 4 and in particular, it will be seen that the dumbbell cross sectional shape of the stator 23 provides, in cooperation with the tubular shaft 26, a fluid passage 34 which generally opposes the inlet 18 and a fluid passage 35 which generally opposes the outlet 20. The ends of these passages 34 and 35 are 4 closed by abutments which in the illustrated form of valve assembly are formed by the plates 21 and 24.

Each of the passages 34 and 35 is sealed by a sealing member 36 which is of a continuous one-piece construction and is preferably formed of a resilient material. It may be said that the sealing member 36 is in the form of a special O-ring. As is clearly shown in FIGURE 4, the stator 23 has a pair of longitudinally extending grooves 37 formed in the outer surface thereof on opposite sides of each of the passages 34 and 35. The grooves 37 extend into the plates 21 and 24, as is clearly shown in FIGURE 5. The plates 21 and 24 have formed in the peripheral surfaces thereof annular grooves 38 which extend between the longitudinal grooves 37. Thus, the grooves 37 and 38 form seats for the sealing members 36.

It will be readily apparent that inasmuch as the tubular shaft 26 snugly fits the stator 23 and since the sealing member 36 is of a size to snugly fill the grooves 37 and 38, the sealing members 36 will be in resilient contact with the inner surface of the tubular shaft 26 and form a seal therewith.

The plate 21 has coupled thereto a vacuum line 40 which opens into the passage 34 for the purpose of drawing a vacuum within the recesses 30 when they are aligned with the inlet 18. The plate 21 also has connected thereto a gaseous pressure line 41 which opens into the passage 35 for supplying air or other gases under pressure into the recesses 30 when they are aligned with the outlet 20.

The stator 23 also has a central passage 42 which is vented to the atmosphere through a port 43 formed in the plate 21. As is clearly shown in FIGURE 4, the stator 23 also has formed therein two sets of radiating ports 44 and 45 which extend from the passage 42 through the external surface thereof and which are positioned for alignment with the ports 33 when the respective recesses 30 are in positions intermediate the inlet 18 and the outlet 20.

At the inlet 18 the housing 11 has secured thereto an upper product holder which is generally referred to by the numeral 46. It is to be noted that the product holder 46 has a mounting flange 47 which is releaseably secured to the housing body 14 by means of fasteners 48. The product holder 46 may simply be in the form of a hopper. On the other hand, the product holder 46 may be the lower portion of a suitable filler, mixer or combined filler and mixer, such as that disclosed in my copending application Ser. No. 438,196, filed Mar. 9, 1965, for Filling Apparatus, now patent No. 3,334,666, issued August 8, 1967.

In order to facilitate the flow of a product down through the lower portion of the product holder 46 into the interior of the housing 11 at the inlet 18, it is to be understood that the product holder 46 and the housing 11 may have a porous lining 49. The lining 49 will be secured to the walls of the product holder 46 and the housing 11 in any desired manner, and it is preferable that the walls be recessed, as at 50, behind the porous lining 49 for the passage of air therethrough. Air or other gases may be supplied behind the lining 49 through a Supply line 51.

GENERAL OPERATION In the operation of the feeder 10, the rotor assembly 12 is either constantly rotated or is periodically rotated through a predetermined number of pockets, which pockets are identified by the numeral 52 and are defined by the pocket forming members 31. As the pockets 52 come into alignment with the inlet 18, the respective passages 32 come into communication with the passage 34 and a vacuum is drawn in the respective recess 30 and then into the pocket 52 through the material of the pocket forming member 31. As a result, the product disposed within the inlet area of the feeder is drawn down into the pocket 52 as it passes along the general area of the inlet 18. The drawing of the vacuum within the pocket 52 assures the filling of the pocket with a product material and at the same time assures a uniformity of the product material through the removal of entrapped gases therefrom to a uniform percentage. As each pocket 52 passes from the inlet portion of the feeder 10, the product material is levelled flush with the open end of the pocket 52. Thus, a complete and uniform filling of each pocket 52 is assured.

At this time, it is pointed out that, if desired, the feeder may be provided with means for varying the volume of the product placed in each pocket so as to control the amount of material dispensed with each pocket in accordance with variations in the consistency of the materials. This controlled volume of the material carried by each pocket may be in the form of a simple apparatus for scooping out material from a pocket or for squeezing out such material and the mechanism may be of the type specifically disclosed in my copending application Ser. No. 580,641, filed Sept. 20, 1966, for Package Forming and Filling Apparatus.

As a filled pocket 52 passes between the inlet 18 and the outlet 20, the respective passages 32 associated with the pocket 52 come into alignment with the passages 44 with the result that the recess 30 of the respective pocket 52 is vented. In this manner, the vacuum is removed from the pocket. When a filled pocket 52 comes into alignment with the outlet 20, the passages 32 associated with the pocket come into communication with the passage 35 and gases under pressure are delivered into the associated recess 30 and then through the pocket forming member 31 so as to force the product out of the pocket 52. This outward fiow of gases under pressure assures the self-cleaning of the pocket forming member 31.

As a pocket 52 passes between the outlet 20 and the inlet 18, the passages 32 associated therewith come into alignment with the passages 45 and any pressure within the pocket is vented therefrom prior to the pocket being presented to the inlet 18.

It is to'be understood that in accordance with the particular product being handled and the product receiving means associated with the feeder 10, the feeder may simply feed material, fill a receptacle or divide the prodnot. 'In certain instances, the feeder 10 may be utilized solely for the purpose of efficiently delivering a readily fiowable product from within a hopper to suitable conveying means (not shown). In other instances, the feeder 10 may be utilized for the accurate filling of containers without weighing due to the fact that a controlled and accurate weight of a product is received in each pocket 52 as it passes the inlet.

On the other hand, when the product being conveyed by the feeder 10 is of the type having internal cohesion, such as bread doughs and the like, the feeder 10 may function as a divider to accurately cut off from a mass of the material a predetermined weight of the material.

In order to provide for an efiicient operation of the feeder 10, -I have made numerous improvements therein over similar feeders previously devised by me. The principal advance has been made in the construction of the pocket forming members 31 and, accordingly, these will be described in detail first.

In the past, the filter material employed with fillers of all types, including one-shot fillers and continuously operating fillers, have been primarily in the form of porous papers, which have a short life; fine screens, which do not have sufiiciently fine pores to prevent the passage of very fine powdery material and to which cohesive materials have a tendency to stick; and sintered stainless steel and polyethylene sheets, which are extremely expensive, difficult to form and to which cohesive materials have an undesirable tendency to stick. I have found that the pocket forming members 31 may be formed of relatively inexpensive materials which heretofore have not been considered as being suitable for the intended purpose.

Referring now to FIGURE 3, it will be seen that there is illustrated a more complex .construction of one of thy pocket forming members 31. The pocket forming member 31 is of a three-piece construction and includes a wire screen basket-like member 60 which is preferably of a one-piece construction and pressed from Wire screen. The pocket forming member 31 also includes a wire screen basket-like member61 which is of a size and configuration to snugly fit within the basket-like member 60. The basket-like member 61 is provided with a peripheral mounting flange 62. Like the basket-like member 60, the basket-like member 61 is preferably of a one-piece construction and is pressed from a single sheet of wire screen material.

A third and intermediate basket-like member 63 is provided. The basket-like member 63 also has a peripheral mounting flange 64. The basket-like member 63 is of a relatively thin construction and is clamped between the basket-like members 61 and 60'. Attention is called to the substantial inward taper on all four sides of members 60' and 61.

The basket-like member 63 is formed of a suitable cloth wherein the weave is sufficiently tight to prevent the passage of minute particles while providing the necessary gaseous flow. Such a cloth, if woven of suitable stranded materials, will not only be wear resistant, but also will present a surface which is extremely friction resistant. A preferred woven fabric has the primary strands thereof formed of Teflon TFE with the fabric being formed entirely of Teflon TFE or having a cotton or similar backing. The cost of this fabric, which is commercially available, is one which is economically feasible.

In order to facilitate the removal of a product from the basket-like member 63, it is preferred that the warp of the fabric run in the direction of product movement with respect to the basket-like member 63. Accordingly, the basket-like member 63 is formed from a three-piece blank which is illustrated in FIGURE 2 and generally referred to by the numeral 65.

Referring now to FIGURE 2, it will be seen that the blank 65 includes a first elongated blank member 66 which is of a configuration so as to form the bottom, two sides and two mounting flanges of the basket-like member. The three-piece blank 65 also includes second and third blank members 67 and 68 which are identical and each of which forms a side and a flange of the basketlike member 63 when they are secured together.

It is to be noted that the warp of the blank members 66, 67 and 68, as indicated by the arrows thereon, are arranged in the direction of product removal out of the basket-like member 63. When the blank members 66, 67 and 68 are cut from woven cloth, the blank members 67 and 68 will be disposed parallel to the blank member 66 and not at right angles thereto as illustrated in FIG- URE 2. Thus, a saving of material may be accomplished.

It is to be understood that the three-piece blanks 65 may be secured together in any desired manner to form the basket-like member 63. It has been found that both sewing and glueing will suffice. However, the invention, of course, is not limited to the modes of securing together the blank 65.

Referring now to FIGURES 6 and 8 in particular, it will be seen that when the pocket forming member 31 is of a three-piece construction, the basket- like members 60, 61 and 63 will snugly fit together with the mounting flanges 62 and 64 in face-to-face engagement and the upper edge of the basket-like member 60 terminating short of the mounting flange 64.

Referring now to FIGURE 7 in particular, it will be seen that the basket-like member 60 is of a relatively coarse screen construction whereas the basket-like member 61 is of a relatively fine screen construction. It is also to be noted that the orientation of the mesh of the basket-like member 61 with respect to the mesh of the basket-like member 60 is such that the wires thereof are eventlyspaced so as to provide for a minimum mesh arrangement.

At this time, it is pointed out that for certain products, it will be necessary to only utilize the basket-like member 61 as the entire pocket forming member 31. On the other hand, in certain instances it will be desired to have the pocket forming member 3l of a double seam construction, in which event, the basket-like member 61 will be directly nested Within the basket-like member 60. It is also to be understood that there are instances where the basket-like member 63 may be utilized with either the basket-like member 61 or the basket-like member 60 withoutthe other of the basket-like members.

It has been found that when the feeder 11 is utilized as a dough divider, the pocket forming member 31 may be formed solely of the basket- like members 60 and 61. A typical basket-like member 60* is of a No. 8 mesh and formed of 0.025 wire while a typical basket-like member 61 is formed of No. 16 mesh with 0.01 to 012 Wire. It is preferred that the wire utilized in forming the basket- like members 60 and 61 be formed of stainless steel although other suitable materials may be utilized. Also, as is illustrated in FIGURE 9, a typical wire 70 may have formed on the exterior surface thereof a coating 71 having a high release coefficient, such as polytetrafiuoroethylene. The coating 71 is preferably applied by spraying and may taper towards the edges thereof. The members 60 and 61 may be coated together after being assembled.

Referring once again to FIGURES 6 and 8 in particular, it will be seen that each recess 30 is configurated to define a center seat 72 and generally corner seats 73 by the forming of large recess panels both at the bottom and in the walls of the recess 30. Thus, there can be a proper flow of gases around the pocket forming member 31 and therethrough.

As is clearly shown in FIGURES 6 and 8, when a pocket forming member 31 is properly seated within its respective recess 30, the bottom thereof is secured in place by a fastener 74 which enters into the seat 72. With the bottom of the pocket forming member 31 so anchored, the mounting flanges 64 and 62 are seated on the peripheral surface of the rotor 25 and are secured in place by means of band-like strip 75 which is of a onepiece construction and which snugly fits about the periphery of the rotor 25. As is clearly shown in FIGURE 3, the band-like strip 75, although it is of a one-piece construction, has spaced circumferential strips 76 connected together at regular intervals by means of cross bars 77 with the arrangement of the strips 76 and the cross bars 77 defining windows 78 in alignment with the pockets 52. The strips 76 and the cross bars 77 are apertured as at 80 for receiving fasteners 81 which releaseably secure the band-like strip 75 in place. Of course, the band-like strip 75 secures the pocket forming members 31 in place.

It is preferred that the band-like strip 75 have a surface which will form a seal with the housing body 14. In the preferred construction of the band-like strip 75, it is formed from stainless steel and has an external coating of polytetrafluoroethylene TFE. The Teflon will form a seal with the housing body 14 during the rotation of the rotor assembly 12 within the housing 11 so that the individual pockets 52 will be sealed relative to one another intermediate the inlet and the outlet.

When the feeder is utilized as a divider for cohesive material, such as bread dough and the like, it has been found that a feed roller may be advantageously utilized at the inlet 18. The feed roller, which is preferably formed of a resilient material and may have a Teflon outercoating, is best shown in FIGURE 4 and is identified by the numeral 82. The feed roller 82 is carried by a shaft 83 and has the periphery thereof disposed in pressure contacting relation with the band-like strip 75.

In order that the feed roll 82 may be driven at the same peripheral speed as the band-like strip 75 and in the same direction, the shaft 83 is provided witha pinion 84 which meshes with a gear 85 carried by the coupling 28 or some other part'of'thef tubular shaft 26, which drive is best shown in FIGURE 5. g

It will be seen from FIGURE 4 that a nip is formed at 86 between the feed roll 82 and the band-like strip 75. As a pocket 52 passes through the nip 86, the dough or other cohesive material is squeezed into the pocket 52 and gradually pinched off at the tail end of the pocket 52. In this manner, a complete filling of the pocket, even with a cohesive material, is assured.

In the present-day automatic bakeries, the newly prepared bread dough is divided by a machine which cuts and extrudes the dough to form batches of loaf size por tions. These machines'have several inherent deficiencies. In the first place, in order to facilitate the flow of the dough through the machine, mineral oil is applied to the dough in constant streams as it passes through the divider mechanism thereof with the result that each loaf size portion is undesirably completely coated with mineral oil. A second deficiency of existing dough dividers is that due to variance in the gases entrapped within the dough, the loaf size portions are 'not of uniform weight, and in order to assure that each baked loaf is of a predetermined weight, it is necessary thafan' excess weight of dough be divided out.

Because of the fact that the loaf size portions of dough passing from the dough divider are undesirably coated with the mineral oil, it is necessary that the mineral oil be absorbed. Accordingly, at the present, the newly divided dough is coated with sifted flour after which'the dough is rolled to assure both'the absorption of the mineral oil into the sifted flour and the" mixing of the mineral oilsifted flour mixture into the "remainder of the'dough so as to provide a generally uniform consistency. This rolling of the flourand mineral oil into the dough results in an undesired Working of the dough and necessitates an initial proofing which would otherwise be unnecessary.

In accordance with this invention, the dough may be handled without the addition of any lubricants or other materials which will facilitate the dividing thereof. The newly prepared and initially proofed dough is received directly by the dough divider of this invention and without undue working of the dough or the adding of any type of coating material will divide the dough into loaf size portions ready to be placed into the'baking pan for the usual further proofing and baking. Furthermore, because the dough is of a uniform consistency when it is tightly drawn within the pockets of the dough divider, each loaflike portion will be of a predetermined weight so as to avoid the necessity of providing extra dough to make certain that each baked loaf is of a predetermined weight.

From the foregoing, it will be readily apparent that a dough divider formed in accordance with this invention would not only eliminate many of the unnecessary steps of dough handling required with presently utilized dough dividers, but will also eliminate the undesired additive of mineral oil and sifted flour so that the texture and quality of the resultant baked loaf will=be far superior to that presently possible with automatic baking equipment.

I claim:

1. A rotor assembly particularly adapted for use as a component of a filler, divider and like feeder devices for fiowable material, said rotor assembly'comprising an annular rotor having formed in the periphery thereof a plurality of recesses, ports extending from said recesses through said rotor and opening through the interior thereof, a removable pocket forming member seated in each recess, said pocket forming members being formed of open mesh material with the openings in the material being graded in accordance with the product being handled, securing means securing said pocket forming members in said recesses, and each of said pocket forming members including nested wire screen basket-like members.

2. The rotor assembly of claim 1 wherein said securing means includes a peripheral retainer releasably secured to said rotor, said retainer having portions surrounding the outer periphery of each pocket forming member and being adapted to seal each pocket relative to a housing receiving said rotor assembly.

3. A rotor assembly particularly adapted for use as a component of a filler, divider and like feeder devices for fiowable material, said rotor assembly comprising an annular rotor having formed in the periphery thereof a plurality of recesses, ports extending from said recesses through said rotor and opening through the interior thereof, a removable-pocket forming member seated in each recess, said pocket forming members being formed of open mesh material with the openings of the material being graded in accordance with the product being handled, securing means securing said pocket forming members in said recesses, said securing means including a peripheral retainer releasably secured to said rotor, said retainer having portions surrounding the outer periphery of each pocket forming member and being adapted to seal each pocket relative to a housing receiving said rotor assembly, and said retainer being in the form of a strip having spaced cut-outs corresponding to said pockets.

4. The rotor assembly of claim 3 wherein said retainer has an exposed surface selectively formed of polytetrafluoroethylene and similar materials having a high release coeflicient.

5. The rotor assembly of claim 1 wherein the radially outermost one of said basket-like members is of a finer mesh than the other of said basket-like members.

6. A rotor assembly particularly adapted for use as a component of a filler, divider and like feeder devices for fiowable material, said rotor assembly comprising an annular rotor having formed in the periphery thereof a plurality of recesses, ports extending from said recesses through said rotor and opening through the interior thereof, a removable pocket forming member seated in each recess, said pocket forming members being formed of open mesh material with the openings in the material being graded in accordance with the product being handled, securing means securing said pocket forming members in said recesses, and said pocket forming members including nested wire screen basket-like members, and an intermediate filter member sandwiched between said wire screen basket-like members. I

7. A rotor assembly particularly adapted for use as a component of a filler, divider and like feeder devices for fiowable material, said rotor assembly comprising an annular rotor having formed in the periphery thereof a plurality of recesses, ports extending from said recesses through said rotor and opening through the interior thereof, a removable pocket forming member seated in each recess, said pocket forming members being formed of open mesh material with the openings in the material being graded in accordance with the product being handled, securing means securing said pocket forming members in said recesses, and each of said pocket forming members including a fabric filter member having a material engaging surface of a high release coefficient.

8. For use in a rotor assembly of a filler, divider and like feeder device for fiowable materials, a pocket forming member formed of an open mesh material with the openings thereof being graded in accordance with the material being handled, and at least the surface of the pocket forming member intended to be contacted by material having a high release coefiicient with relation to the material being handled, said pocket forming member including nested inner and outer wire screen basket-like members, one of said basket-like members being of a finer mesh than the other of said basket-like members.

9. For use in a rotor assembly of a filler, divider and like feeder device for fiowable materials, a pocket forming member formed of an open mesh material with the openings thereof being graded in accordance with the material being handled, and at least the surface of the pocket forming member intended to be contacted by material having a high release coefficient with relation to the material being handled, said pocket forming member including nested inner and outer Wire screen basket-like members, and an intermediate fabric filter member sandwiched between said wire screen basket-like members.

10. A feeder of the filler and divider type for fiowable materials comprising a housing having a cylindrical interior and inlet and outlet openings, a rotor mounted within said housing for continuous rotation, said rotor being annular in section and having a fluid flow controlling stator seated therein, said rotor having a plurality of recesses formed in the exterior surface thereof, a pocket forming member seated in each recess and sealed relative to said housing except at said inlet and said outlet.

11. The feeder of claim 10 wherein said pocket forming members are retained in place by a band surrounding said rotor and in sealing contact with said housing, said band having an exposed surface having a high release coefficient with respect to the material being handled, and having openings therein corresponding to pockets defined by said pocket forming filter members.

12. The feeder of claim 10 together with a feed roller mounted in said housing inlet at the rotor exit edge thereof and in opposed contacting relation to said rotor, and means driving opposed surfaces of said rotor and said feed roller in like directions to squeeze a product into said rotor pockets and separate product within said housing inlet from product in a rotor pocket as the rotor pocket passes out of communication with said housing inlet.

13. In combination with a rotor and valve forming stator assembly, said stator being formed with a longitudinal port forming recess and end abutments at the ends of said recess, a sealing arrangement comprising longitudinal grooves in said stator on opposite sides of said port forming recess, annular grooves in said end abutments generally circumferentially coextensive with said port forming recess and connecting together said longitudinal grooves, and a single continuous sealing member in said grooves contacting said rotor and forming a complete seal around said port forming recess.

14. The rotor assembly of claim 3 wherein said retainer has an exposed surface selectively formed of tetrafiuoroethylene and similar materials having a high release 00- efficient.

15. The feeder of claim 10 wherein said pocket forming members are formed of an open mesh woven crossed strand material and having exposed surfaces having a high release coetlicient.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,424,189 7/ 1947 Randall 249113 3,001,582 9/1961 Kindseth et al. 249113 X 3,146,801 9/1964 Wilson. 3,205,837 9/1965 Fay. 2,639,213 5/1953 Barth. 2,720,353 10/1955 Stirn et al. 14l1 FOREIGN PATENTS 248,827 3/1926 Great Britain.

EDWARD L. ROBERTS, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R.

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