Digitally controlled mass flow feeder and weight integrator

Claim 2

Apparatus comprising a conveyor having a motor drive, means for feeding flowable solid material onto the conveyor, means for weighing said material on the conveyor and producing a digital output signal in response thereto, and digital control means connected to the motor drive, said digital control means producing an output pulse signal in response to an input frequency rate signal and said digital output signal of said weighing means, said output pulse signal causing the motor drive to operate the conveyor at a speed such as to cause the material mass flow to correspond to a preset value.

Claim 3

Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein said motor drive includes a stepping motor.

Claim 4

Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein said weighing means continuously weighs the flowable material on the conveyor and continuously transmits a digital signal indicative of desired speed to the motor drive.

Claim 5

Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein said digital control means includes a multiplier means, said multiplier means multiplying said input frequency rate signal by a predetermined number.

Claim 6

Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein said digital control means includes a frequency divider having a resettable counter coupled to a comparator, said comparator comparing the count of said counter with the digital output signal of said weighing means and producing said output pulse of said digital control means in response to detection of a predetermined relationship between the count of said counter and said digital output signal.

Claim 9

A method in accordance with claim 6 wherein said step of producing a second digital signal includes the step of multiplying an input frequency pulse rate signal in a binary rate multiplier by a set point rate signal indicative of the desired mass flow rate.

Claim 10

A method in accordance with claim 6 wherein said operating step includes a step of feeding said output signal to a stepping motor drive for driving the conveyor.

Claim 11

A digitally controlled mass flow feeder comprising a conveyor belt having a motor drive, means for continuously weighing a portion of the belt and any load thereon and generating a first digital signal in response thereto, and comparison means for directly controlling the speed of said motor drive as a function of a comparison of said first digital signal representative of the load and a second digital signal derived from a frequency pulse rate input signal.

Claim 12

A digitally controlled mass flow feeder comprising a conveyor belt having a motor drive, means for continuously weighing a portion of the belt and any load thereon and generating a first digital signal in response thereto, and comparison means for directly controlling the speed of said motor drive as a function of a comparison of said first digital signal representative of the load and a second digital signal derived from a frequency pulse rate input signal.

Claim 13

Apparatus in accordance with claim 9 wherein said motor drive is a pulse stepping motor, and said comparison meanS including a frequency divider for dividing said frequency pulse rate input signal by said first digital signal.

Claim 14

A digitally controlled mass flow feeder in accordance with claim 9 wherein means are provided to produce said frequency pulse rate input signal, said means comprising a constant frequency pulse rate signal source and a binary rate multiplier for multiplying the output of said constant frequency pulse rate source by a set point value.

Claim 15

Apparatus in accordance with claim 9 including means for registering the total amount of material processed by the belt over a period of time.

Claim 16

Digital flow control apparatus, comprising: a conveyor having a motor drive; means for feeding flowable solid material onto said conveyer; means for receiving a pulse rate signal; means for multiplying said pulse rate signal by a predetermined number; means for counting the output of said multiplier means; means for weighting the material on said conveyor, said weighing means producing a digital signal output; comparator means, said comparator means comparing the output of said counting means and said weighing means and producing an output pulse when said output of said counting means equals the output of said weighing means; said motor drive of said conveyor receiving and being responsive to said output pulse of said comparator means.

Claim 17

Digital flow control apparatus, comprising: a conveyor having a motor drive; means for feeding flowable solid material onto said conveyer; means for receiving a pulse rate signal; means for multiplying said pulse rate signal by a predetermined number; means for counting the output of said multiplier means; means for weighting the material on said conveyor, said weighing means producing a digital signal output; comparator means, said comparator means comparing the output of said counting means and said weighing means and producing an output pulse when said output of said counting means equals the output of said weighing means; said motor drive of said conveyor receiving and being responsive to said output pulse of said comparator means.

Claim 18

Digital flow control apparatus as recited in claim 13 including means for resetting said counter in response to said output pulse of said comparator means.