Patent Application
20150064351
This invention relates to improved methods and apparatus concerning addition of dry powdered colorant to natural mulch fiber in a process known as color enhanced mulch production. Also known as the process of dyeing mulch fiber to produce a value added product that will retain color for a prolonged period of time.
There are various devices known in the prior methodology for providing color enhanced mulch.
One or more embodiments of the present application combine several technologies that have heretofore not been combined to accurately, effectively and responsibly incorporate finely ground powdered ingredients into color enhanced mulch manufacturing. This combination of apparatus and process, in one or more embodiments, essentially removes risk of particulate contamination to the environment and increases workplace air quality safety.
One or more embodiments of the present invention use technologies that move dry colorant by way of an air stream, meters the dry colorant with the use of various apparatus, and combine with water. The combination of components in this invention results in delivery of an otherwise difficult colorant material to be incorporated into a natural mulch fiber with virtually no dust or risk to the environment. An apparatus, method, or system in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention can also be applied to materials other than natural mulch, such as stone, sand, shredded tires, and other materials.
In the present application natural mulch is mulch derived from trees and/or tree parts that are ground or shredded to a relatively small size and used in landscapes for, the purpose of protecting plants from weather and conservation of moisture.
One or more embodiments of the present invention provide an apparatus which will eliminate the need to liquefy mulch colorant by using various ingredients hence saving time, energy, transportation, process, and processing equipment. One or more embodiments of the present invention provide a process which will reduce carbon footprint and costs to color enhanced mulch manufacturers and end users while providing an inherent benefit to mankind.
One or more embodiments of the present application provide an apparatus comprising: an air blower having an output; a rotary airlock having a rotor shaft and a plurality of vanes fixed to the rotor shaft, wherein each pair of adjacent vanes of the plurality of vanes form a chamber; the rotary airlock further including a first input, a second input, a bottom section, and a first output; a receptacle having an input and an output, and having an inner chamber in which is located a plurality of colorant particles; a water supply having an output, and a mixing chamber having an input and an output.
The air blower may be configured to blow air out of its output and through the first input of the rotary airlock, into the bottom section of the rotary airlock. The rotary airlock may be configured to receive a portion of the plurality of colorant particles from the output of the receptacle at the second input of the rotary airlock, and the rotor shaft of the rotary airlock is configured to rotate to cause the portion of the plurality of colorant particles to be transported by a chamber of the rotary airlock from the second input of the rotary airlock to the bottom section of the rotary airlock.
The rotary airlock may be configured to allow the air blown into the bottom section of the rotary airlock to mix with the portion of the plurality of colorant particles transported into the bottom section of the rotary airlock to form an air and colorant particles mixture. The rotary airlock may be configured to cause the air and colorant particles mixture to be blown out of the first output of the rotary airlock. The output of the water supply may be configured so that water from the water supply is mixed with the air and colorant particles mixture from the first output of the rotary airlock to form a water, air, and colorant particles mixture. The mixing chamber may be configured to receive a material and the water, air, and colorant particles mixture at its input and to produce a mixture of the material and the water, air, and dry particles at its output.
The material may, for example, be natural mulch, stone, sand, or shredded tires. The apparatus may further include a means which controls the rotational speed of the rotor shaft of the rotary airlock to control the rate at which colorant particles of the plurality of colorant particles from the output of the receptacle are transported by one or more chambers of the rotary airlock from the second input of the rotary airlock to the bottom section of the rotary airlock. The means may include a variable frequency drive.
In at least one embodiment, a method is provided comprising the steps of: blowing air out of an output of an air blower and through a first input of a rotary airlock, into a bottom section of the rotary airlock; receiving a portion of a plurality of colorant particles from an output of a receptacle at a second input of the rotary airlock; rotating a rotor shaft of the rotary airlock to cause a portion of the plurality of colorant particles to be transported by a chamber of the rotary airlock from the second input of the rotary airlock to the bottom section of the rotary airlock; mixing the air blown into the bottom section of the rotary airlock with the portion of the plurality of colorant particles transported into the bottom section of the rotary airlock to form an air and colorant particles mixture; blowing the air and colorant particles mixture out of the first output of the rotary airlock; mixing water from a water supply with the air and colorant particles mixture from the first output of the rotary airlock to form a water, air, and colorant particles mixture; and receiving a material and the water, air, and colorant particles mixture at an input of a mixing chamber and producing a mixture of the material and the water, air, and dry particles at an output of the mixing chamber.
The material may be a material previously described. The method may further include controlling the rotational speed of the rotor shaft of the rotary airlock to control the rate at which colorant particles of the plurality of colorant particles from the output of the receptacle are transported by one or more chambers of the rotary airlock from the second input of the rotary airlock to the bottom section of the rotary airlock. The rotational speed of the rotor shaft of the rotary airlock may be controlled with a variable frequency drive.
In operation, the air blower 6 is powered by the power source 2 to blow air in the direction D1 within the piping 12. The piping 12 may be cylindrical piping such as PVC (polyvinylchloride) (but not limited to) cylindrical piping. The air blower 6 may be positive displacement, high pressure, or medium pressure air displacing system or device or some other type of air displacing system or device. The power sources 2 and 16 may be electric, hydraulic, or mechanical.
The air from the air blower 6 flows through piping 12 and into a bottom section of rotary airlock 10. The receptacle 8 may be a cylindrical receptacle or hopper having an opening at top 8a and a bottom 8b. A dry powder colorant is placed in the receptacle 8 through the opening at the top 8a. The bottom 8b has an opening through which the dry powder colorant falls into a chamber of the rotary airlock 10. The rotary airlock 10 spins at a rate regulated and adjustable by the variable frequency drive 4. This causes measured quantities of the dry powder colorant to fall from a chamber, such as a chamber 11b shown in
The rotary air lock 10 may alternately be driven by a hydraulic motor and a hydraulic valve which may be part of the rotary air lock 10 to limit the flow of dry powder colorant through the bottom section of the rotary airlock 10.
The portions of the dry powder colorant falling into the bottom section of the rotary airlock 10 mix with the air from the piping 12 in the bottom section of the rotary airlock 10. The air and dry powder colorant flow from the bottom section of the rotary airlock 10 into the piping 18, in the direction D2, then in the direction D3, and thereafter in the direction D9 into the piping 24a. The piping 12 through which air flows may be at a ninety degree angle or some other angle with respect to the piping 18 although pipings 12 and 18 are shown in line in
The water supply 20 supplies water flowing in the direction D4 into the piping 22a. The water then flows into water flow meter 40 which measures the flow of the water to enable the operator to have the ability to monitor and adjust the quantity of water dispatched onto the mulch. Addition of water is extremely critical to the finished product. Too much water results in an over hydrated product and too little water prevents colorant absorption in the final mix. Often times the natural mulch ingredient varies in moisture, depending on conditions such as: season, weather, source of material to be colored, age of mulch etc. Therefore it is important for an operator to know exactly the quantity of water dispensed in order to react effectively. The operator can examine the water flow meter 40 which may indicate on a display, for example, the number of gallons of water per minute that flow through the water flow meter 40, from piping 22a to piping 22b. The operator can control the water supply 20 to reduce the flow of water from the water supply 20 into the piping 22a, upon seeing that the flow rate of water is too high or too low. Alternatively, or additionally, the water flow meter 40 may include a computer processor and the water supply 20 may include a computer processor, and these two (or more) computer processors may communicate, such as wirelessly. The flow rate of water through the water flow meter 40 may automatically change the flow rate supplied by the water supply 20, such as increase or decrease, as programmed into a computer memory stored in the water flow meter 40 or elsewhere.
The water flows out of flow meter 40 and into piping 22b. The flow of water into the piping 22b then branch into two branches, the branch or piping 22c and the branch or piping 22d. The two branches or flows of water, then flow in the directions D5 and D6, into piping 24a where they mix with the air and dry powder colorant combinant. An air, water, and dry powder colorant mixture then flows out of an opening in piping 24b and out of an opening in piping 24c as a plurality of particles 30, into mixing chamber 26 through opening 26a. At the same time, a plurality of particles 32 of material, such as natural mulch fiber is fed into mixing chamber 26 through the opening 26a via the conveyor device 34. The conveyor device 34 may include or may work with further components which are not shown for simplification in
The plurality of particles of material 32 may be a material other than natural mulch, such as for example, stone, sand, shredded tires or other materials.
The mixing chamber 26 is shown in dashed lines as transparent so that the various particles 30, 32, and 36 can be seen in
The receptacle 8, the rotary airlock 10, and the air blower 6 may rest on a digital or analog weighing scale 14 which may rest on the ground surface 3. The scale 14 is used to determine the weight of the amount of dry powder colorant in the receptacle 8 (after subtracting weight of air blower 6, rotary airlock 10, and receptacle 8, and any other components on the scale 14, other than powder colorant). The data from scale is used to calculate speed at which airlock will operate in order to determine the desired amount of dry powder colorant being combined with mulch fiber. The quantity of colorant dispensed is at the discretion of the operator. Some operators may desire a darker, richer final product and some may require a less vibrant product. The different results are entirely up to the operator and adjustable by regulating one or more functions of the apparatus and process.
The mixing chamber 26 may be configured at an angle A with respect to the ground surface 3 and the mixing chamber 26 may be supported by supports 27a and 27b. The conveyor device 28 may be supported by supports 29a and 29b, and may be inclined upwards with respect the ground surface 3. The angle A may be set at an operator's discretion but may be between five and thirty-five degrees and should be sufficient enough to allow the particles 36 to fall through the mixing chamber 26 through opening 26b onto conveyor belt 28a.
The mixing chamber 26 may be any known mixing chamber, such as for example a known modified Trommel screen. In accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention, the mixing chamber 26 may include or may be replaced by other currently known methods and apparatus of combining liquid colorant to mulch. For example, the mixing chamber 26 may include or may be replaced by a tub grinder, a horizontal grinder, and/or a batch or continuous flow mixing apparatus and/or method.
One or more embodiments of the present invention have the advantage that little to no dust from the particles 36 or finished product 36 becomes airborne. The size of particles in the dry ingredient stored inside the receptacle 8 are typically in the fifteen to one hundred nanometer range and have a propensity to create clouds and mix with the environment when not handled properly. By using one or more devices and methods described herein in the present application, the risk of incorporating dust clouds and introducing particulates into the air are diminished to near zero, for the finished product or particles 36 shown in
Part of the piping 18 of
The mixture of air and first colored dry powder colorant (such as colored black) and second colored dry powder colorant (such as colored red) flow from the bottom section of the rotary airlock 10 into the piping 18, in the direction D2, then in the direction D3, and thereafter in the direction D9 into the piping 24a. The water supply 20 supplies water flowing in the direction D4 into the piping 22a. The water flows out of flow meter 40 and into piping 22b. The flow of water into the piping 22b then branch into two branches, the branch or piping 22c and the branch or piping 22d. The two branches or flows of water, then flow in the directions D5 and D6, into piping 24a where they mix with the air and first and second colored dry powder colorant combinant. An air, water, and first and second dry powder colorant mixture then flows out of an opening in piping 24b and out of an opening in piping 24c as a plurality of particles 30, into mixing chamber 26 through opening 26a. At the same time, a plurality of particles 32 of material, such as natural mulch fiber is fed into mixing chamber 26 through the opening 26a via the conveyor device 34. The natural mulch and the air, water, and first and second colorant mixture, then flow through the mixing chamber 26 for a set time, combine, and become a homogeneous mixture of mulch, air, water, and first and second dry colorant. The homogenous mixture may include a plurality of particles 36. A finished product of the plurality of particles 36 flow out the opening 26b, and then the plurality of particles 36 falls onto conveyor belt 28a of the conveyor device 28. The conveyor belt 28a then moves the plurality of particles 36 or finished product in the direction D10 until the particles 36 drop off the conveyor belt 28a into a stock pile 38 on a ground surface 3.
The receptacle 208, and the rotary airlock 210, may rest on a digital or analog weighing scale 214 which may rest on the ground surface 3. The scale 14 is used to determine the weight of the amount of first colored dry powder colorant in the receptacle 8 (after subtracting weight of air blower 6, rotary airlock 10, and receptacle 8, and any other components on the scale 14, other than powder colorant), and the second scale 214 is used to determine the weight of the amount of second colored dry powder colorant in the receptacle 208 (after substracting for other components as necessary). The data from the scales 14 and 214 may be used to calculate speed at which airlocks 10 and 210 will operate in order to determine the desired amount of first colored and second colored dry powder colorant, respectively, being combined with mulch fiber. The quantity of first colored colorant and second colored colorant dispensed is at the discretion of the operator.
In at least one embodiment, the configuration of
Similarly, in at least one embodiment, the variable frequency drive 204 can control the rotary airlock 210 so that no second colored dry colorant from receptacle 208 is delivered to the bottom section of rotary airlock 210 through bottom opening 208b. In that case, air mixed with first colored dry colorant, will blow through the bottom section of the rotary airlock 210, from the piping 202 to the piping 18, without any second colored dry colorant.
Although the invention has been described by reference to particular illustrative embodiments thereof, many changes and modifications of the invention may become apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. It is therefore intended to include within this patent all such changes and modifications as may reasonably and properly be included within the scope of the present invention's contribution to the art.
