Importance

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Abstract

A dry flow sensor for detecting the flow rate of a stream of granular material through a chute includes a force transducer mounted inside an enclosure, the enclosure being mounted by a bracket assembly to the chute with a plate assembly cantilever mounted in the chute from the force transducer and a thermoelectric heat pump to maintain the temperature of the force transducer at a desired value. A temperature sensor is mounted on the force transducer and a computer compares actual with desired temperature to control the heat pump. The cantilever mount comprises a pair of beam members, each beam including a central threaded rod with a hollow tube surrounding the rod and held in place between the force transducer and plate assembly by compression. A collar member surrounds one beam member and has a plurality of adjustment screws to limit radial torquing of the beam and plate assembly with respect to the force transducer. A second force transducer is loaded with a counterweight substantially equal to the dynamic load on the first transducer, their outputs being summed to cancel out the effect of vibrational forces in the chute from the detected force.

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First Claim