The present invention relates to a means for dosing a predetermined quan¬ tity of powder or granular material. A desire exists to transfer a pre¬ determined quantity of material jfrom a store for powder or granular ma¬ terial to a container or conveyor belt immediately below the store. It must also be possible to set the predetermined quantity.

The object of the present invention is to fulfil the above-mentioned de¬ sired and this is achieved by arranging an aperture or pipe for a cylinder with an adjustable circumferal groove, between a store and a discharge means located one immediately above the other. The cylinder is movable in said aperture between the two spaces in such a way that in one position the circumferal groove is in the store and in a second position it is in the discharge means. Said aperture has only sufficient room for said cylinder.

At the upper end of said aperture the store may be provided with a control means so that the material in the store flows at an angle towards said cylinder. The discharge means cooperates with a container movable between the discharge means and a discharge station where it is emptied into a container.

This emptying is preferably via a mixer arranged symmetrically in relation to the container and being identical in appearance to the container opening except that its dimension is smaller than the actual opening of the con¬ tainer. This avoids spilling outside the opening of the container.

Further features of the present invention are revealed in the following claims.

The present invention will be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which

Figure 1 shows equipment comprising a store, a means according to the invention, a discharge means and a conveyor belt,

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Figure 2 shows a means according to the present invention with part of a store and with the discharge means,

Figure 3 shows the equipment according to Figure 1 but with the con¬ veyor belt replaced by a truck with a container, said truck carrying the container to a discharge station,

Figure -i shows the truck according to Figure 3 with the container in position for receiving material,

Figure 5 shows the truck at the discharge station, with the container on its way out of the discharge position, together with a con- tainer to receive the material, and a mixer, and

Figs.6-7 show the transport container in receiving position and in dis¬ charge position, together with the turning mechanism.

In the drawings, 1 is a store and below the store is a dosing means, followed in turn by a discharge means opening to a conveyor belt 4. The dosing means, described in more detail in Figure 2, has an aper-ture 5. The aperture 5 cooperates with a cylinder consisting of a lower part 6 and an upper part 11. The cylindrical part 6 is bevelled at the top, has a conical portion and then a cylindrical part 8 with smaller diameter than the lower part. The cylindrical part 8 continues into a threaded part 9 which screws into a hole 10, also threaded, and arranged in the upper part 11 of the cylinder. The upper part 11 is conically bevelled at the bottom, and this bevelled part is designated 12. The bevelled sections 7 and 12 and the cylindrical part 8 together provide a circumferal groove, the size of which is adjustable since the two parts 6 and 11 of the cylinder are axially displaceable in relation to each other due to their screw threads. Naturally, the axial displacement between the cylindrical parts 6 and 11 may be achieved by any other suitable means desired. Above the aperture 5 is the lower part of the store 1. This lower part is first purely cylin¬ drical and then becomes conical. Above the cone is a control means for the material flow towards the cylinder 6,11. The control means consists of a

conical hood 18 provided with openings 19 at its periphery. The hood is connected at the top to a pipe 17 through which leads an operating rod 16, connected to the cylinder 6 and 11. The lower end of the cylinder.6 and 11 is provided with guide blades 13 joined to a tube 14. The tube 1 is in turn joined at the lower end to a discharge tube 15. When the cylinder 6,11 is displaced, the tube 14 and discharge tube 15 are also displaced.

The dosing means described above functions as follows. First the width of the circumferal groove 7, 8 and 12 is set by turning the two cylindrical parts 6 and 11 in relation to each other. The dosing quantity is deter- mined by the width of this groove. The cylinder 6,11 is moved by an operating rod to the position shown in Fig.2. If the store is filled with material, this will be supplied through the openings 19 from the side to the circumferal groove. The material supplied to the groove is not sub¬ jected to the full pressure of the material in the store, thanks to the protective . conical hood 18. If the operating rod 16 is moved down, the circumferal groove 7, 8 and 12 will arrive in the aperture 5. There is thus a limited quantity of material in the groove. Once the groove arrives on the other side of the aperture 5, the material will be transferred to the discharge means and the discharge tube 15. The desired quantity then arrives on the conveyor belt 4.

The conveyor belt may be replaced by a unit 20 moved by a chain 21 or other linear transport means between a discharge station on the left and the discharge means 3- The container 23 is provided at the side with a toothed wheel 25 cooperating with a rack 26. The container 23 can be forced into a receiving position by the toothed wheel 25 and rack 26, as shown in Figs.4 and 6 or into a discharge position as shown in Figs.5 and 7, where the axis of the discharge aperture is quite vertical. A receiving unit such as a ^• container 22, or a mould, is provided at the discharge station. When the material is emptied from the container 23 it passes a mixer 24, as is clearly shown in Fig.5. The opening of the mixer has the same appearance as that of the container 22. The dimension of the mixer opening is slightly less than that of the container opening in order to prevent spilling outside the container 22.

The powder in the container 23 is below the centre of rotation. This means that when transferred from horizontal transport to rotation, it will not change position because of the centrifugal force and retardation force.

It should be evident that the container 23 with mixer can be used for applications other than that described above.