EP-4739584-A1 - DROP-DOWN DEVICE FOR A DOSING APPARATUS AND CORRESPONDING PACKAGING APPARATUS

Abstract

A dosing apparatus includes a doser mechanism that discharges an index amount of a granular material based on drawing the granular material from an intake hopper. A drop-down device is coupled between the intake hopper and a supply hopper and enables enable a flow of the granular material from the supply hopper to the intake hopper through a conduit. The drop-down device restricts a flow rate of the flow of granular material through the conduit based on directing the flow around a slat extending into the conduit. The slat has an upper slat surface that is angled downwards at an inclination angle that may correspond to an angle of repose of the granular material.

Inventors

• WILLIAMS, DWIGHT DAVID
• WOODS, Dremere Kevon

Assignees

• Altria Client Services LLC

Dates

Publication Date

20260513

Application Date

20240801

Claims (20)

1. 1. A dosing apparatus, comprising: an intake hopper that is configured to hold an amount of a granular material, the intake hopper configured to receive the granular material through an intake hopper inlet opening at a top end of the intake hopper; a doser mechanism coupled to the intake hopper, the doser mechanism including an auger conveyor extending into the intake hopper, the doser mechanism configured to discharge an index amount of the granular material based on operation of the auger conveyor to draw a portion of the granular material from the intake hopper; a supply hopper configured to hold a supply amount of the granular material, the supply hopper configured to supply the granular material through a supply hopper outlet opening at a bottom end of the supply hopper; and a drop-down device coupled between the supply hopper and the intake hopper, the dropdown device including a conduit structure configured to define a conduit extending along a central longitudinal axis in flow communication between the supply hopper outlet opening and the intake hopper inlet opening to enable a flow of the granular material from the supply hopper to the intake hopper through the conduit, wherein the drop-down device is configured to restrict a flow rate of the flow of granular material through the conduit based on directing the flow of the granular material around a slat extending into the conduit, the slat having an upper slat surface that is angled downwards from a first end that is proximate to an inner surface of the conduit structure to a second end that is distal to the inner surface at an inclination angle, the inclination angle corresponds to an angle of repose of the granular material.
2. 2. The dosing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the upper slat surface is a planar surface that extends along a plane that is angled at the inclination angle.
3. 3. The dosing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the drop-down device includes a plurality of slats extending into the conduit, the plurality of slats including the slat.
4. 4. The dosing apparatus of claim 3, wherein the plurality of slats includes at least two slats that are offset from each other in a vertical direction extending parallel to the central longitudinal axis of the conduit.
5. 5. The dosing apparatus of claim 4, wherein the at least two slats at least partially overlap in the vertical direction.
6. 6. The dosing apparatus of claim 4, wherein the at least two slats extend into the conduit from opposite side ends of the conduit.
7. 7. The dosing apparatus of claim 4, wherein the plurality of slats are offset from each other in the vertical direction, and vertically adjacent slats of the plurality of slats extend into the conduit from opposite side ends of the conduit.
8. 8. A packaging machine, comprising: the dosing apparatus of claim 1; a packaging supply device configured to supply a strip of packaging material that is folded to establish a folded strip of packaging material that defines an open enclosure having an enclosure opening, wherein the dosing apparatus is configured to discharge the index amount of the granular material into the open enclosure through the enclosure opening to at least partially fill a distal portion of the open enclosure with the index amount of the granular material; a sealing device configured to join opposing surfaces of the folded strip of packaging material to isolate the distal portion of the open enclosure from a remainder of the open enclosure that includes the enclosure opening such that the isolated distal portion of the open enclosure establishes a sealed enclosure that contains the index amount of the granular material in the folded strip of packaging material; and a cutting device configured to separate the sealed enclosure from a remainder of the folded strip of packaging material to establish an article of packaging that contains the index amount of the granular material.
9. 9. A dosing apparatus, comprising: a doser mechanism including a cylindrical shell and an auger conveyor, the cylindrical shell having a doser inlet opening and a doser outlet opening, the auger conveyor extending through the cylindrical shell and further extending through the doser inlet opening; an intake hopper, the intake hopper including an intake hopper structure defining an intake hopper enclosure, an intake hopper inlet opening extending through a top wall of the Il l intake hopper structure, and an intake hopper outlet opening extending through the intake hopper structure at a location that is below the intake hopper inlet opening, wherein the doser mechanism is coupled to the intake hopper such that the auger conveyor extends through both the doser inlet opening and the intake hopper outlet opening into the intake hopper enclosure; a supply hopper including a supply hopper structure defining a supply hopper enclosure, a supply hopper outlet opening extending through a bottom wall of the supply hopper structure; and a drop-down device coupled between the supply hopper outlet opening and the intake hopper inlet opening, wherein the drop-down device includes a conduit structure defining a conduit having a central longitudinal axis and extending along the central longitudinal axis between a drop-down inlet opening at a top end of the conduit structure and a drop-down outlet opening at a bottom end of the conduit structure, and a slat having a first end that is proximate to at least one inner surface of the conduit structure and a second end that is distal to the at least one inner surface of the conduit structure in relation to the first end and is proximate to the drop-down outlet opening in relation to the first end, the slat including an upper slat surface extending from the first end to the second end such that the upper slat surface is angled toward the dropdown outlet opening from the first end at an inclination angle.
10. 10. The dosing apparatus of claim 9, wherein the upper slat surface is a planar surface that extends along a plane that is angled at the inclination angle.
11. 11 . The dosing apparatus of claim 9, wherein the inclination angle is about 35 degrees.
12. 12. The dosing apparatus of claim 9, wherein the drop-down device includes a plurality of slats extending from one or more inner surfaces of the conduit structure into the conduit, the plurality of slats including the slat.
13. 13. The dosing apparatus of claim 12, wherein the plurality of slats includes at least two slats that are offset from each other in a vertical direction extending parallel to the central longitudinal axis of the conduit.
14. 14. The dosing apparatus of claim 13, wherein the at least two slats at least partially overlap in the vertical direction.
15. 15. The dosing apparatus of claim 13, wherein the at least two slats extend into the conduit from opposite side ends of the conduit.
16. 16. The dosing apparatus of claim 13, wherein the plurality of slats are offset from each other in the vertical direction, and vertically adjacent slats of the plurality of slats extend into the conduit from opposite side ends of the conduit.
17. 17. The dosing apparatus of claim 9, wherein the drop-down device includes a slot opening extending through a thickness of the conduit structure, the slat extending through the slot opening into the conduit through the thickness of the conduit structure.
18. 18. The dosing apparatus of claim 9, wherein the drop-down device further includes a sleeve structure configured to receive and horizontally surround the supply hopper outlet opening to establish fluid communication between the conduit of the drop-down device and the supply hopper.
19. 19. A packaging machine, comprising: the dosing apparatus of claim 9; a packaging supply device configured to supply a strip of packaging material that is folded to establish a folded strip of packaging material that defines an open enclosure having an enclosure opening, wherein the dosing apparatus is configured to discharge an index amount of a granular material into the open enclosure through the enclosure opening to at least partially fill a distal portion of the open enclosure with the index amount of the granular material; a sealing device configured to join opposing surfaces of the folded strip of packaging material to isolate the distal portion of the open enclosure from a remainder of the open enclosure that includes the enclosure opening such that the isolated distal portion of the open enclosure establishes a sealed enclosure that contains the index amount of the granular material in the folded strip of packaging material; and a cutting device configured to separate the sealed enclosure from a remainder of the folded strip of packaging material to establish an article of packaging that contains the index amount of the granular material.
20. 20. A method of operating the dosing apparatus of claim 9, the method comprising: controlling the auger conveyor of the doser mechanism to operate to draw a granular material out of the intake hopper via the doser inlet opening and to be discharged via the doser outlet opening; and causing a flow of the granular material to be supplied from the supply hopper to the intake hopper via the conduit of the drop-down device, wherein the slat of the drop-down device restricts a flow rate of the flow through the conduit based on at least a portion of the flow of the granular- material accumulating on the upper slat surface of the slat.

Description

DROP-DOWN DEVICE FOR A DOSING APPARATUS AND CORRESPONDING PACKAGING APPARATUS CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION [0001] This application claims priority to and the benefit of United States Provisional Patent Application No. 63/530,568 filed in the United States Patent and Trademark Office on August 3, 2023, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND Field [0002] The present inventive concepts relate to portioning of granular materials, including powder materials, and more particularly to controlling a pressure of granular material acting on a doser mechanism configured to convey and supply particular amounts (e.g., portions, doses, indexes, etc.) of granular material based on controlling a flow rate of granular material supplied to a hopper from which the doser mechanism draws the granular material, to provide improved reliability and consistency of supply of amounts of granular material having a controllable volume. Description of Related Art [0003] Some products, including some consumer goods, include packaged portions (“portioned instances”) of a granular material (also referred to herein as simply a “material”). In some cases, such portioned instances may be produced (“provided,” “manufactured,” etc.) based on portioning (e.g., dividing) and/or supplying a relatively large (“bulk”) instance of the material into multiple smaller portioned instances (e.g., doses, indexes, dose amounts, index amounts, or the like), and packaging the portioned instances. SUMMARY [0004] According to some example embodiments, a dosing apparatus may include an intake hopper, a doser mechanism, a supply hopper, and a drop-down device. The intake hopper may be configured to hold an amount of a granular material. The intake hopper may be configured to receive the granular material through an intake hopper inlet opening at a top end of the intake hopper. The doser mechanism may be coupled to the intake hopper. The doser mechanism may include an auger conveyor extending into the intake hopper. The doser mechanism may be configured to discharge an index amount of the granular material based on operation of the auger conveyor to draw a portion of the granular material from the intake hopper. The supply hopper may be configured to hold a supply amount of the granular material. The supply hopper may be configured to supply the granular material through a supply hopper outlet opening at a bottom end of the supply hopper. The drop-down device may be coupled between the supply hopper and the intake hopper. The drop-down device may include a conduit structure configured to define a conduit extending along a central longitudinal axis in flow communication between the supply hopper outlet opening and the intake hopper inlet opening to enable a flow of the granular material from the supply hopper to the intake hopper through the conduit. The drop-down device may be configured to restrict a flow rate of the flow of granular material through the conduit based on directing the flow of the granular material around a slat extending into the conduit. The slat may have an upper slat surface that is angled downwards from a first end that is proximate to an inner surface of the conduit structure to a second end that is distal to the inner surface at an inclination angle. The inclination angle may correspond to an angle of repose of the granular material. [0005] The upper slat surface may be a planar surface that extends along a plane that is angled at the inclination angle. [0006] The drop-down device may include a plurality of slats extending into the conduit. The plurality of slats may include the slat. [0007] The plurality of slats may include at least two slats that are offset from each other in a vertical direction extending parallel to the central longitudinal axis of the conduit. [0008] The at least two slats may at least partially overlap in the vertical direction. [0009] The at least two slats may extend into the conduit from opposite side ends of the conduit. [0010] The at least two slats may be exposed from each other in the vertical direction. [0011] The plurality of slats may be offset from each other in the vertical direction and vertically adjacent slats of the plurality of slats may extend into the conduit from opposite side ends of the conduit. [0012] The slat may be configured to adjustably pivot to adjustably control the inclination angle of the upper slat surface. [0013] The slat may be pivotably coupled to the conduit structure. [0014] The drop-down device may include at least one slot opening extending through a thickness of the conduit structure, the slat extending through the slot opening into the conduit through the thickness of the conduit structure. [0015] The conduit structure may define the conduit as having a cross-sectional area, extending perpendicular to the central longitudinal axis and which continuously changes in area magnitude along the central longitudinal axis between