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Abstract

An apparatus and method is detailed for the application of non-conductive material, generally of a powder or fine fiber form from bulk storage onto a conductive filament or plurality of filaments. A series of vibrating troughs are used to store, convey, unpack and load particulate material at a controllable rate into a gas stream traversing a converging-diverging nozzle. High aerodynamic shear in the nozzle reduces the material's size. Divergent nozzle exit geometry slows the material to speeds where electrostatic forces can predominate, as the material is injected upwardly into a chamber fitted with a cascade of conical forms. Each cone is electrified about its circumference in one or more locations, with respect to a centrally located upward moving filament. Conventional electrostatic charging and deposition on the filament is augmented by the convergent geometry of the cones. Excess material falls on the outside of the cones, and eventually downward to a recovery area. An exhaust system provides vertical velocity augmentation to the particulate cloud, plus a clean exit of the filament. Single, multiple and cabled filaments can be coated in a single apparatus.

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First Claim